Thomas Berry Horsfall

Merchant and politician

Born in Liverpool, the son of former Mayor of Liverpool, Charles Horsfall (1776-1846) and Dorothy Hall Berry (1784-1846).

1. ‘Like his father, he stood in the front rank amongst the merchant princes of Liverpool.’

2. Married 4 times:

   (1) Jane Anne Marsh (?-1841) m. Llanidloes, Montgomeryshire, 30 May 1834-1 February 1841; (2) Mary Cox (1817-1862), m. Brailsford, Derbyshire, 9 March 1847-1862; (3) Sophia Leeke (1830-1867) m. Belper, Derbyshire, 12 November 1863-1867; (4) Lucy Martha Nolan (1846-1920) m. London, 1 December 1870. Children (16 in all): With (1) Elizabeth Dorothy Horsfall (1835-), Charles Horsfall (1836-), Matilda Jane Horsfall (1837-), Thomas Marsh Horsfall (1838-1921), Louisa Horsfall (1840-), Robert Horsfall (1841-). With (2) Mary Cox (1848-), Charles (1849-), Annie (1851-), Jessie (1854-). With (3) William E. Horsfall (1866- ), Henry Leeke Horsfall (1867- ), Alexander S. Horsfall (1867- ). With (4) Lucy Beatrice Nolan Horsfall (1872-1943), Annie Gwendoline Nolan Horsfall (1873-), Gertrude B. Nolan Horsfall (1876-)

   In the 1851 Census Thomas and Mary were living with her family in Brailsford: her mother (Elizabeth Cox), sister, brother, relation of Horsfall (Matilda Jane, aged 13 - visitor), their 2 children (Mary, aged 3, Charles, aged 1), 4 servants and a visiting servant with Matilda). William Cox (son of Eliz.) described as a landowner. In later years owned and resided at Bellamour Hall, Colton, Staffordshire. [Recorded there in 1861 Census along with Mary, his wife (b. Brailsford, Derbys., c. 1817), and 3 servants (a footman, nurse and kitchen maid) but no children. Horsfall described as 'MP, Magistrate and Merchant'.

   Listed in the Liverpool Poll Book 1832 as Merchant, Netherfield Road, North Liverpool, S & D, BGS / FMN. Buried in St. Mary's Church, Colton, Staffordshire.

3. 'During his lifetime Horsfall made considerable additions to the [Bellamour] estate and improved its general appearance. In the village he was esteemed for the interest he took in its inhabitants. The village schools were erected at his expense and were endowed by him. The cemetery adjoining, known as the Closed Burial Ground, was presented by him to the village as a free gift and he also took a very active part in the erection of the District Hospital in Rugeley. Horsfall also built the Reading Room in the village. Bellamour hall was demolished in the 1920's.'

4. In 1848 the first President of the Liverpool Architectural & Archaeological Society.

5. Elected the first President of the Chamber of Commerce and Mayor of the Borough; he was also a magistrate and deputy-lieutenant for the counties of Lancashire and Stafford.

   Elected as MP for Derby, 1852 but unseated on petition; MP for Liverpool 1853-1868.

   As MP for Liverpool ‘His political opinions were based upon the soundest Constitutional principles, and he will long be remembered for his strong common-sense Conservatism in the House of Commons. He was a good and true Churchman, and in concert with his brothers built four of the finest churches in Liverpool, to whose charitable institutions he was also a munificent patron.’

6. He was a member of the Royal Commission on Railways established in 1865 (reporting in 1867) to examine the charges for transporting people and goods and to investigate a more economical and efficient system of interchange between the various railways.

7. Thomas Berry Horsfall left personalty of £200,000 on his death.

1. Derby Mercury, 1 January 1879.

2. Family history information [accessed 03/08/2012]; note the dates for the four children of his second wife relate to their baptism records in Christ Church, Everton, available through the Lancashire Online Parish Clerks project, http://www.lan-opc.org.uk/Liverpool/Everton/christchurch/baptisms_1848-1863.html [accessed 24/05/2018]. Portrait of Horsfall

3. Colton History Society

4. Liverpool Architectural Society

5. Derby Mercury, 1 January 1879; see also obituary in The Times 24 December 1878.

6. Parliamentary Papers 1867 [3844] [3844-I] [3844-II] [3844-III] XXXVIII Pt.I.1 and XXXVIII Pt.II.1.

7. W.D. Rubinstein Who were the rich? MS 1879/53.

We are grateful to Paul Laxton for his assistance with compiling this entry.