Liverpool Confederate Links

 

Jefferson Davies

After seeing a post on Twitter by QueryingScouser@rjcruthers regarding Jefferson Davies coming to Liverpool I thought I would investigate further.

In conjunction with the formation of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis was named president of the Confederate States of America on February 18, 1861. On the 10th of May 1865 he was captured by Union forces near Irwinville, Georgia, and charged with treason. He was imprisoned at Fort Monroe in Virginia from the 22nd of May 1865, to May 13th 1867, before being released on bail paid partly by abolitionist Horace Greeley. Based on their wartime business connections, in August 1868 the former president and his wife Varina  came to Liverpool in search of employment. Abercromby Square residents James Spence and Charles Prioleau greeted the couple and took them in a private carriage to the Adelphi Hotel. Prioleau was the senior partner of Fraser, Trenholm & Co. and the leading Confederate financier in Britain during the war, providing the funding necessary to build ships such as the Alabama, Florida, & Shenandoah, and numerous blockade runners. The Shenandoah would be the last Confederate ship to surrender, on the River Mersey, months after the war had ended. Jefferson Davies had sent James Dunwoody Bulloch to Liverpool in 1861 where he immediately established contact with shipping firm Fraser, Trenholm & Co who were located in No.10 Rumford Place with offices also in Charleston. Commander Bulloch set up his own office at No. 6 Rumford Place. At the outbreak of the civil war the Southern States had been at a disadvantage, as the North had more manufacturing industry so the Confederacy had to look to Europe for arms and supplies and, already having strong links from the cotton trade, it made Liverpool the obvious choice for organising aid for the Confederacy. They had no navy or ships to beat the Northern blockade of Southern ports and looked to Liverpool shipyards to secretly build a fleet of blockade-runners and naval cruisers to keep the vital cotton supply line open.

Charlseton House in Rumford Place

 

In Liverpool it became clear that public scrutiny was too great and so the visting couple moved to the Walkers' home in Napier Terrace, Canning Street, only a few hundred yards from Abercromby Square. They probably visited the unofficial White House of the former Confederacy at 19 Abercromby Square, particularly if Confederate assets were, as suspected, still stored there. Even post-bankruptcy, Prioleau and Spence seemed to have access to significant funds, which prosecutors believed originated in the Confederacy. 19 Abercromby Square had been built for Charles K Prioleau in1863 with permission given for the building to be 2 feet taller than the existing buildings either side of it. The house has many features which show the original owner was from South Carolina. The ceiling foyer displays a palmetto tree & crescent moon both symbols of his native South Carolina, with the serpent wrapped at the base of the tree signifying war and defiance. 

19 Abercromby Square

Jefferson hoped to start a new career in cotton brokerage or insurance in Liverpool, specifically with the Royal Insurance Co. The Royal, a fire and marine insurer, was originally established by a group of prominent Liverpool businessmen from Abercromby Square. While this contingent was welcoming and positive about Davis's attempts to settle in Liverpool, his political past had repercussions. As the burgeoning Royal Insurance Co. was expanding into northern states in the U.S., directors in London decided that formal connections with the former Confederate leader would be damaging to business prospects and refused him, citing Northern animosity toward the former Confederate President. Other insurers also rejected him both directly and through intermediaries. Davis returned to Liverpool in 1870 and 1874, staying for at least part of the time at Number 19 Abercromby Square, and according to Spence's son, also staying as a guest of his father at Number 10. The Davis family's friends in Liverpool again tried to find employment for Jefferson, but without success.
In 1877, Number 19 was leased out by its then owner, Major Norman Walker, on a five-year contract to help with struggling finances. The Haitian Ambassador to Liverpool, Colonel William Roberts, took up residence. In 1882 it became apparent that Walker's financial fortunes were not improving, and Number 19 was sold. The city of Liverpool purchased Number 19 that same year.