Upton Hall is a large manor house on the peninsula known as the Wirral, in the village of Upton in

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

, England (historically, the hall was in the county of

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

). The owner of the hall was styled the

Lord of the Manor Lord of the manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England and Norman England, referred to the landholder of a historical rural estate. The titles date to the English Feudalism, feudal (specifically English feudal barony, baronial) system. The ...

and also known as the Squire. The Manor of Upton itself dates back to the Domesday Book in 1086, when it was recorded as being held by William Mallbank. "The title of Lord of the Manor of Upton passed from Mallbank to the Praers and Ornebias, one of whom in 1230 gave it, and the Manor of Willaston, to his mother. It descended through female heirs to Sir John Arderne and was given as a wedding present when his daughter married Baldwin Bold in 1310." Ownership of the hall and associated titles and privileges changed frequently. After six generations of occupation by the Bolds, it was purchased by Robert Davies in 1614. The currently standing Upton Hall, built by the Webster family in the 1800s, is a

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

building.

The Websters

From ca. 1798 to 1861 the hall was owned by the Webster family, formerly farmers from Poulton-cum-Seacombe. John Webster bought Upton manor house, Upton Hall and title "Lord of the Manor". He was subsequently known "Squire". His son William was a philanthropist and was widely popular. William Webster took on patronage of the curacy of Woodchurch and erected a school. William married Elizabeth Matthews, ca. 1845, but she died sometime before 1861. The census of that year shows William married to Sophia Elizabeth Curme. William eldest son, John Egerton Webster, was not well liked. He was described as "He was cross-grained in temper, and even worse." and he was "heartily disliked by the whole countryside." Having a fortune of some £8,000–9,000, he married the young Hannah Branford in about 1834 and they lived off the interest. However, by 1843 he petitioned for insolvency and paid his creditors about 25% of what he owed. In the 1851 census it is the younger brother, William, who lives at Upton with his family. In 1861 John's wife took advantage of newly created

Court for Divorce and Matrimonial Causes In the history of the courts of England and Wales, the Court for Divorce and Matrimonial Causes was created by the Matrimonial Causes Act 1857, which transferred the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical courts in matters matrimonial to the new cou ...

and divorced John in 1861 on the grounds of cruelty.''Liverpool Mercury'', 15 May 1862. The newspaper accounts of her testimony paint him as violent and brutal. The Webster family sold Upton Hall in 1862, possibly to pay John Egerton's debts or possibly because the ongoing scandal had negatively impacted their social standing. John Egerton petitioned to be made bankrupt (and relieved of the burden of repaying his debts), but this was declined by the courts on appeal. He is shown by the 1871 census to be an inmate of a

poor house A poorhouse or workhouse is a government-run (usually by a county or municipality) facility to support and provide housing for the dependent or needy. Workhouses In England, Wales and Ireland (but not in Scotland), "workhouse" has been the more ...

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

, England. The clergyman and

malacologist Malacology, from Ancient Greek μαλακός (''malakós''), meaning "soft", and λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is the branch of invertebrate zoology that deals with the study of the Mollusca (molluscs or mollusks), the second-largest ...

William Henry Webster The Reverend William Henry Webster (1 October 1850 – 1931) was born at Upton Hall, Merseyside, Upton Hall, Cheshire. After a brief career in the navy, during which he saw service in Asia, Webster studied to become a priest and followed this voc ...

was born at Upton Hall in 1850. The Websters rented the hall to

William Inman William Inman (6 April 1825 in Leicester – 3 July 1881 in Upton, Merseyside, Upton, Wirral Peninsula, Wirral) was the owner of the Liverpool, New York and Philadelphia Steamship Company. Also known as the Inman Line, it ran services from Liverp ...

in 1854, while he built his own house nearby.

Faithful Companions of Jesus

Nuns from the Society of the Faithful Companions of Jesus (FCJ) bought Upton Hall from the Websters in December 1862 and turned it into a boarding school for girls. It is now the

Upton Hall School FCJ Upton Hall School FCJ is a Catholic girls' grammar school with academy status located in Merseyside, England. It was founded in 1849 by the Faithful Companions of Jesus (FCJ). Admissions It is one of four Catholic schools in the Metropolit ...

. Since 1972 it has been a day school only.

References

External links

Upton Hall
{{coord, 53.38585, -3.10002, format=dms, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Buildings and structures in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral Manor houses in England