Recollections of a Busy Life: Being the Reminiscences of a Liverpool Merchant 1840-1910

We retained the management of the West Indian and Pacific Co. for nine years. The company had prospered under our care, the shares were at a premium, and the directors were willing to renew our agreement; but they wanted my brother Arthur to promise to devote less of his time to politics; this he was unwilling to do, and so our connection ceased. It was an unfortunate thing for the firm, but luckily we sold out our shares at a substantial premium, and formed a new company, the Atlas Company, to run steamers between New York and the West Indies, my brother still devoting his time to the Atlas Company's interests, and I attending to the general business. At this I worked very hard, from early morning to late in the evening, taking only a fortnight's holiday each year. The business of the firm prospered greatly. At first our principal business was receiving consignments of cotton, but these led to such large reclamations, which were seldom paid by the consignors, that we were on the alert to find some other way of working our cotton trade, and a visit I made to Mobile to collect reclamations revealed to me a secret which for years gave us large profits. I stayed in Mobile with a Mr. Maury, and found that he was the holder of a very large stock of cotton, against which he sold cotton for future delivery, which always commanded a substantial premium in New York. When the time for delivery came round, he tendered the cotton he had bought; in this way he made a certain and a handsome profit over and above the holding expenses. What was possible in New Orleans was, I thought, possible in Liverpool, and on my return home we commenced this cotton banking business. It was very profitable, and for some time we had it all to ourselves.

When we started the Atlas Line in New York, we opened a house under the title of Pim, Forwood and Co., Mr. Pim leaving Bombay for New York, my brother George at the same time opening a house for us in New Orleans. George Pim died in 1878, and my brother George moved from New Orleans to New York. Here he remained until 1885, when he entered the Liverpool firm, and my brother Brittain took his place in New York; Brittain retired in 1885.

Looking back over my business career, it was a period of strenuous hard work, but of much happiness and great prosperity. It was always a matter of regret to us that we had not more of the active co-operation of my brother Arthur, who was a man of singular ability and remarkable power of organisation. Unfortunately for the firm, from a very early period in our partnership he devoted most of his time to politics, which led to his eventually becoming a member of the House of Commons, and in a very short period Secretary to the Admiralty. In this office, which he held for six years, he did most excellent work. To use the words of the then First Lord of the Admiralty – Lord George Hamilton – he made it possible to build a ship of war in twelve months when it had previously taken four and five years. The fusion of the Conservative and Unionist parties prevented my brother's advance to Cabinet rank. He was one of the ablest men I ever knew, but he had not the faculty of delegating his work; this and his overmastering determination to carry out everything to which he put his hand, entailed upon him an amount of personal work and thought which few men could have borne, and which in the end proved even more than he could support without loss of nervous power. I was his partner for twenty-five years and we never had a serious difference of any kind. He was a candidate for the representation of Liverpool in Parliament in 1882, but was defeated by Mr. Samuel Smith. He afterwards was elected member for the Ormskirk division, which he represented at the time of his death in 1898. He was made a Privy Councillor and afterwards created a baronet.

Liverpool owes much to him, for in every position which he filled, as Chairman of the Finance Committee and of the Health Committee, and as a Member of Parliament, he did a great work for the city. In politics he was facile princeps, a born leader of men; he built up the Conservative party in Lancashire, and kept it together in face of many difficulties.

It was impossible that a man with such a strong individuality and determination could avoid making some enemies. He always tried to reach his goal by the nearest road, even if in doing so he had to tread upon susceptibilities which might have been conciliated, but withal he was one of the ablest men Liverpool has produced in recent years; he had at heart the good of his native city, and no sacrifice of time or thought was too much if he could only benefit Liverpool or promote the welfare of the Conservative party. His statue, erected by public subscription, stands in St. John's Gardens, and each year on the anniversary of his death a wreath of laurels is placed at its foot by the Constitutional Association – "Though dead, his spirit still lives."

In 1890 I retired from business at the age of 50. I was tired with the fag and toil of twenty-five years' strenuous work, but it was a mistake to retire. The regular calls of one's own affairs are less trying than the irregular demands of public work. Punch's advice to those about to marry, "Don't," is equally applicable to those about to retire from business.

CHAPTER V.

PUBLIC LIFE

My public life began in 1867, when I was 27 years of age. I then joined the Council of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce. In the following year (1868) I was elected the President of the Liverpool Philomathic Society, a position I was very proud of. The Society at that time possessed many excellent speakers; we had among others Charles Clark, John Patterson, and James Spence.

During the year I was President, Professor Huxley came down and delivered his famous address on "Protoplasm: or the beginnings of life," and this started a discussion upon the evolution of life, which has continued to this day. Professor Huxley was my guest at Seaforth and was a very delightful man. We had also a visit from Professor Huggins, now the revered President of the Royal Society. He greatly charmed us with his spectroscope, which he had just invented. I had an observatory at the top of my house at Seaforth, with a fair-sized astronomical telescope. The professor gave us some very interesting little lectures upon his discoveries of the composition of the various stars and planets.

In November of the same year I was invited to offer myself as a candidate for the Town Council to represent Pitt Street Ward, in succession to Mr. S. R. Graves, M.P. My opponent was Mr. Steel, whom I defeated, polling 189 votes against his 135 votes. I represented Pitt Street for nine years, and every election cost me £150. I do not know what became of the money, but Pitt Street was a very strange constituency.

Looking back it seems to me that the Town Council was composed of Goliaths in those days, men of large minds, and that our debates were conducted with a staid decorum and order which have long since disappeared. William Earle, J. J. Stitt, Charles Turner, M.P., F. A. Clint, Edward Whitley, J. R. Jeffery, are names which come back to me as prodigies of eloquence. I remember venturing to make a modest speech shortly after I was elected, and one of the seniors touching me on the shoulder and saying, "Young man, leave speaking to your elders"; but they did queer things in those good old days. Many of the aldermen were rarely seen; they only put in an appearance on the 9th November to record their vote on the election of the Mayor.

I was early placed on a deputation to London. I think there were six or seven deputations in London at one time, each attended by a deputy town clerk. We stayed at the Burlington Hotel, and had seats provided for us in the theatre and opera, and carriages to drive in the parks. It was said that the bill at the Burlington Hotel, at the end of that Parliamentary session, was "as thick as a family Bible."

Chamber of Commerce

In 1870 I was elected Vice-President of the Chamber of Commerce, becoming the President in 1871, and was also made a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society of London. My work at the chamber was very pleasant and congenial, and together with the late Mr. Lamport, Mr. Philip Rathbone, and Mr. John Patterson, we did a good deal in moulding the commercial legislation of that time, the Merchant Shipping Bill and the Bankruptcy Bill being drafted by our Commercial Law Committee.

In 1878 the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce was reconstituted, the old chamber having got into bad repute through becoming too political. The election of the president of the re-organised chamber was left to the vote of the three thousand subscribers to the Exchange News Room. Eight names were submitted, and I was elected president for the second time. During the following three years excellent work was done by the chamber, it became very influential with the Government and took rank as the first chamber in the country. We declined all invitations to be associated with other chambers, deeming that Liverpool was sufficiently strong and powerful to stand alone, and in this I think we acted wisely.

American Chamber of Commerce

The American Chamber of Commerce existed for the purpose of safeguarding the interests of the American trade, and was supported by dues levied on every bale of cotton imported into Liverpool. In its day it did great and useful work, and accumulated quite a large capital, which it spent in giving very gorgeous banquets to the American Ministers and distinguished strangers. I became president of this chamber in 1872, and during my term of office we entertained General Skenk, the new American Minister, and others.

Joint Committee on Railway Rates

In 1873 an attempt was made by the London and North-Western Railway to amalgamate with the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway. This aroused great indignation. Liverpool was already suffering severely from the high railway charges levied upon her commerce, and it was feared that the proposed amalgamation would increase these charges. Meetings were held, and in the end all the towns in Lancashire and Yorkshire were invited to join with Liverpool in opposing the scheme in Parliament. I was elected the chairman of this Joint Committee, and we inaugurated an active Parliamentary campaign. We induced Parliament to remit the bill to a joint Committee of Lords and Commons. The bill was thrown out, and our suggestion that a railway tribunal to try cases of unfair charges should be formed was accepted, and is now known as the Railway Commission; but by a strange irony of fate, it has become too expensive to be used by the users of the railways, and is now mainly occupied in settling differences between railway companies themselves.

The United Cotton Association

In 1877 there was some friction between the various cotton interests, brokers, and merchants, and an association – entitled "The United Cotton Association" – was formed to endeavour to bring all the branches of the trade together and to remodel the rules, and I was elected chairman. Up to this time the Brokers' Association ruled the market, and as many brokers had become also merchants it was felt that some re-arrangement of the relative positions of brokers and merchants was necessary. The position of chairman was one of considerable delicacy, as a very unpleasant feeling had grown up between merchants and brokers, and there existed considerable friction; however, in the end we managed to compose these difficulties and to lay the foundation of the Cotton Association which now rules the trade.

International Cotton Convention

An International Cotton Convention was held in Liverpool, also in 1877; it was composed of delegates from all the cotton exchanges of America and those on the Continent. I was appointed the president; our meetings extended over ten days and were interspersed with excursions and entertainments. The convention was productive of much advantage to the trade, in ensuring a better supervision of the packing, weighing and shipment of cotton from America, and I think the measures taken practically put an end to the system of false packing which had become so injurious to the cotton business.

Mayor of Liverpool

In 1880 I was elected Mayor of Liverpool, an honour which I very greatly esteemed. It was an eventful year, for many distinguished strangers visited Liverpool. General Sir Frederick Roberts came as the hero of the hour after his wonderful march from Cabul to Candahar. He was entertained at a banquet, and an At Home at the Town Hall, and he with Lady Roberts stayed with us for three days at Blundellsands.

Among other visitors we entertained were Lord Lytton, then Governor-General of India; and King Kallikahua, the King of the Sandwich Islands. His Majesty was very dignified, and accepted quite as a matter of course the royal salutes fired by the guard ship in the river as we passed by in the Dock Board tender. At the banquet in the evening I was warned by his equerry that I must try and prevent His Majesty imbibing too freely. It was not an easy thing to do, but to the surprise of my guests I stopped the wine and ordered cigars; this had the desired effect. I believe this was the first time smoking was allowed at a Town Hall banquet.

The King had with him a big box full of Palais Royal decorations which he showed me, but with which, fortunately, he did not offer to decorate me.

Visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales

Our heaviest function at the Town Hall was the reception and entertainment of the Prince and Princess of Wales on the occasion of the opening of the new north docks.

The Prince and Princess stayed with Lord Sefton at Croxteth, and their children, the three Princesses, stayed at Knowsley, Lord Sefton's children having the measles.

The day of the Royal Visit was lovely. We met the Prince and Princess at the city boundary, Newsham Park, proceeding thither in the mayor's carriage, drawn by four horses with postillions and out-riders. After presenting the Princess with a bouquet we followed to the landing stage, where the royal party embarked on the river for the new docks. The course of the royal yacht was kept by our large Atlantic liners, and by several battleships. The Princess christened the new Alexandra dock and then we adjourned to a lunch in one of the large sheds, and after lunch the Prince and Princess entered the mayor's carriage and drove to the Town Hall, where an address was presented to them.

The Fenians had been very active in Liverpool, and during the evening at Croxteth I was told by the aide-de-camp that the Prince had received several threatening letters, to which his Royal Highness paid no attention, but he would be glad to know if every precaution had been taken for the Prince's safety. Although I was able to assure him that every precaution would be taken, this intimation made me feel anxious and I drove from Croxteth to the police station in Liverpool to consult with the superintendents as to what more could be done. We were compelled to drive the Prince and Princess for two miles through that portion of the town inhabited by the Irish; we therefore decided to quicken the pace of the carriage procession, and to instruct the out-riders to ride close in to the wheels of the royal carriage. These precautions were however fortunately not necessary, for right along Scotland Road the Prince and Princess had the heartiest reception, and when we turned out of Byrom Street into Dale Street it was with a sense of relief that I turned to the Prince and said, "Sir, you have passed through the portion of Liverpool in which 200,000 Irish people reside." He replied, "I have not heard a 'boo' or a groan; it has been simply splendid."

We had taken some trouble to obtain a very pretty jewelled bouquet-holder for the Princess, and it was sent to the florist who was making the bouquet. In the morning he brought it to the Adelphi Hotel, broken in two. I showed it to Admiral Sir Astley Cooper, who was one of the suite. He said, "Whatever you do, have it repaired." Every shop was shut, the day being a general holiday. The boots at the hotel at last thought of a working plumber, and to his hands the repairs were entrusted. All he could do was to solder the handle to the bouquet-holder, and he did this in such a clumsy fashion that great "blobs" of solder protruded themselves all round; but it held together and the bouquet was duly presented by the Mayoress. During the drive from the dock the Princess, showing me the holder, exclaimed how lovely it was; alas! my eyes could only see the "blobs" of solder! At Croxteth that evening, while the presents were being exhibited to the guests, the holder broke in two, and the story had to be told.

The three young princesses were entertained all day at the Town Hall by my daughters. Princess Maud managed to evade the vigilant eyes of Miss Knollys, and unattended made her way into Castle Street amid the crowd.

Lord Mayor

For six weeks in 1903 I again occupied the civic chair. In January of that year the Lord Mayor, Mr. Watson Rutherford, was anxious to become a candidate for Parliament, a vacancy having arisen in the West Derby Ward. As Lord Mayor he could not act as his own returning officer, and it became necessary that he should resign his office for a time. Both political parties in the Council were good enough to invite me to accept the position, and thus I became Lord Mayor for the brief period I have mentioned. Mr. Rutherford, on retiring, informed me that he had already spent all the allowance, and all he could offer me were a few cigars. The duration of my reign was too short to admit of much entertaining, but I welcomed the opportunity of showing hospitality to many of my old colleagues and friends.

CHAPTER VI.

THE FENIAN TROUBLES

My year of office as Mayor was made very anxious by the aggressive tactics of the Fenian agitators. A bomb was placed at the side door of the Town Hall, and exploded, breaking in the door, destroying the ceiling and window of the mayor's dressing-room and doing considerable damage to the furniture. The bomb consisted of a piece of iron gas piping about 3 inches in diameter and 18 inches long, filled with explosives and iron nails. The miscreants, after lighting the fuse, ran away; but the Town Hall was watched by a double cordon of police; the first took up the chase, the second joined in, and the two men eventually jumped into a canal boat filled with manure, and were then secured. They were tried, and sentenced to fourteen years' penal servitude. They were two Irish stokers, mere tools in the hands of an Irish-American, who had planned the blowing up of all our public buildings, but managed to get away. An attempt was also made on the Custom House, but failed.

The Home Secretary, Sir William Harcourt, was much exercised by the position of things in Liverpool, and telegraphed to me enquiring how many troops were available in Liverpool. I replied fifty, of whom twenty-five were raw recruits. Next morning the General in command at York called at the Town Hall, and stated that he had been instructed to send 2,000 infantry, and two squadrons of cavalry, and wished me to arrange for their accommodation. He startled me by adding, "I should like to send you a Gatling gun; they are grand things for clearing the streets." I felt this was getting serious. I assured him that we did not apprehend any grave trouble, or disturbances, and if it was known that I had consented to a Gatling gun being sent for the purpose he mentioned, I should make myself most unpopular, and that I hoped that the troops would be sent down gradually so as not to cause alarm. We arranged to place some of the troops at Rupert Lane, and some in volunteer drillsheds, but several hundred had to be quartered in the guard ship on the Mersey. All this was carried out so quietly that no notice of it appeared in the newspapers. We were congratulating ourselves upon the success of our scheme, when I received a note from Lord Chief Justice Coleridge, then presiding at the assizes, requiring my presence at St. George's Hall. I immediately obeyed the summons, and was ushered into the judge's private room. The Chief Justice at once stated that he was informed that a large number of troops had been brought into the town, without his sanction as the Judge of Assize. In vain I pleaded my ignorance that his Lordship's permission was necessary, that the troops had not been requisitioned by me, but had been sent by orders of the Home Secretary. His Lordship was much annoyed and said I ought to have known that a Judge of Assize was the Queen's representative, and no troops could be moved during an assize without the judge's sanction. His anger was however short-lived; he came to dine with me at the Town Hall the same evening, and made a capital speech, as he always did, and the morning's episode was not again mentioned.

Things in Liverpool continued very unsettled and anxious, and to add to the difficulty a strike began. We were obliged to show the troops; the cavalry paraded the line of docks for two or three days, producing an excellent effect.

The Home Secretary was very anxious, and wrote to me long letters. The chief constable, Major Greig, was away ill, and this threw much responsibility upon the mayor. We were able to collect much information, which led to the arrest of many notable Fenians, and we stopped the importation of several consignments of infernal machines. An amusing incident occurred in connection with one of these. We were informed that a consignment of thirty-one barrels of cement was coming from New York by a Cunard steamer, each barrel containing an infernal machine. We placed a plain clothes officer in the Cunard office to arrest whoever might claim the cement, which, however, no one did, and we took charge of the casks as they were landed. Several casks were sent up to the police office and were there opened and the machines taken out. I was asked to go down to see the machines, and found them lying on a table in the detective office, several police officers being gathered round. I lifted the cover of one; a rolled spill of paper was inserted in the clock work; this I withdrew, and immediately the works started in motion, and with equal rapidity the police vanished from the room. I simply placed my hand on the works and stopped them, and invited the police to return. On unrolling the spill of paper I found it to be one of O'Donovan Rossa's billheads; he was at that time the leader of the Fenian brotherhood in America.

The machines were neatly made; on the top were the clock works, which could be regulated to explode at a given time the six dynamite cartridges enclosed in the chamber below.

Having taken all the machines out of the casks of cement, the difficulty arose what to do with them, and eventually we chartered a tug and threw them overboard in one of the sea channels.

An amusing incident occurred showing how excited public feeling was at the time. I was sitting one morning at the table in the Mayor's parlour in the Town Hall, when I heard a crash of broken glass, and a large, black, ugly-looking object fell on the floor opposite to me. I rang the bell and the hall porter came in; I said, "What is that?" "A bomb!" he exclaimed, and immediately darted out of the room, but he had no sooner done so than he returned with a policeman, who exclaimed, "Don't be alarmed, sir, it's only an old pensioner's cork leg." A crowd had collected in the street outside, in the centre of which was the old pensioner, who was violently expostulating. On ordering the police to bring him inside, he said he was very sorry if he had done wrong, but he was so angry at the many holes in the street pavements, in which he caught his wooden leg, that he had adopted this rather alarming method of bringing his complaint under the notice of the Mayor and the authorities. The cork leg, both in form and colour, much resembled a bomb made out of a gas pipe, of which we had seen several at the Town Hall.

At the end of my year of office I received the thanks of the Home Secretary, Sir William Harcourt, for my assistance and, at his request, I pursued enquiries in America which had an important bearing in checking the Fenian movement at that time.

CHAPTER VII.