Land owned by William Brettargh - on his death the land being described as being home to a cottage. Sometime between 1700 and 1704, the house and surrounding estate was sold to politician Richard Molyneux 5th Viscount Molyneux.
1 - 1704 till 1738 - Richard Molyneux, 5th Viscount Molyneux.
2 - 1738 till 1766 – Mary Molyneux, wife of Richard.
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GAP OF 5 YEARS
3 - ​1771 till 1772 – Rev Bartholomew Booth
4 - 1772 till 1833 – Nicholas Ashton. (Former High Sheriff of Lancashire)
5 - 1833 till 1865 – Joseph Ashton (Son of Nicholas) then Charles Ellis Ashton (Son of Joseph)​
6 - 1865 till 1877 – James Reddecliffe Jeffery (owner of Liverpool’s largest department store, Compton House)
7 - 1877 till 1892 – Frederick Richards Leyland (Ship Owner – Leyland Line)
GAP OF 6 YEARS
8 - 1898 till 1948 – Captain Peter McGuffie (West Wing demolished – turned into a Hydropathic Hotel and Golf course)
9 - Headquarters of the Middlesex Regiment & Army Hospital
10 - 1948 till 1970 – Sisters of Notre Dame​
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11 - 1980 till 1985 – John Hibbert​
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12 - 1985 till 2005 – Jim Murray​
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13 - 2005 till present – Jim Murray & Abid Chaudhry
RICHARD MOLYNEUX – 5TH VISCOUNT MOLYNEUX

As previously stated, Richard Molyneux purchased the land that Woolton Hall now sits on, and we presume that he saw that the ‘cottage’ was a good foundation to make good from that of a cottage into Woolton Hall. His Grandfather was the 3rd Viscount Maryborough of Sefton and Croxteth and Richard was expected to inherit. He married Mary Brudenell and acquired her dowry of £11,000. Was this used for continued construction on Woolton Hall? What was constructed included the north section of the present hall which included the great salon, a tapestry room, a dining room and a drawing room.
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The accommodation of guests was also at the forefront of his mind and so either the cellars that may have been part of the cottage were used, or he dug down into the foundations to create elaborate ‘wine bins’ to store his wine and port. The work on Woolton Hall continued and was completed by 1714. It would be considered that the top floor of the Hall or at least part of the top floor were used for servants’ quarters, the principal staircase only reaching the first floor even in today’s configuration.
It was noted that one household member was a Catholic Benedictine priest who would have served the family by providing services especially for the predominantly Catholic household.
Richard Holme OSB is the first named priest and was at the Hall from 1715 till his death in 1717. Richard Molyneux passed away in 1738 and although the title passed to his brother, his widow, Lady Mary Molyneux continued to live at Woolton Hall as well as her husband’s unmarried sister.
His only son had died at a very early age and both his daughters (Mary and Dorothy) left the hall when they were married. There must have still been a great array of servants, gardeners and people to assist his wife when she was living there but at the age of 86, in 1766, she passed away. At the time, a priest was still maintained at the Hall and Lady Molyneux made provisions for him after her death.
After this time, a parcel of land which comprised of twelve acres was purchased off Watergate Lane and money was provided for the construction of a small catholic chapel, known as St Benet’s. The chapel has now been demolished; the gravestones moved back into Woolton Village but there have always been rumours of tunnels from Woolton Hall to St Benet’s.
In the cellar system at Woolton Hall, there does not appear to be any physical evidence of tunnels, but these could have been blocked up over time. Certainly, the reorganization of Woolton Hall over time may have blocked these up for security reasons but it would be interesting to note if tunnels ever existed. If they did, perhaps one went to Woolton Woods or perhaps one went across by the main village. For Woolton Hall’s first owner, we have Richard Molyneux to thank for the creation of Woolton Hall and the legacy that we have left to fight for!
REV BARTHOLOMEW BOOTH

Bartholomew Booth was born in 1732 to a schoolmaster in the village of Mellor, eight miles south of Manchester. Wishing to follow in his father’s footsteps, Booth decided to follow a typical path for that profession and seek ordination. In 1754 he went to Oxford to begin his studies at Brasenose College. After graduating, Booth held positions as schoolmaster and priest in Disley and Marple.
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Booth may have continued down this path and been content to be a small village schoolmaster and curate, but for a strange family problem that would guide his actions for the rest of his life. Booth had married young and in 1760, his wife, Mary Chatterton, began to show signs of mental illness. Choosing to leave his wife and their youngest son, John, Booth made his way to Liverpool with his sons William and Robert (ages 7 and 4).
Once in Liverpool, Booth obtained a room in the Old Church Yard adjoining the church of Saint Nicholas for his classroom. The room was in the middle of the mercantile quarter, convenient for the middle class that Booth was targeting for his students. On January 7, 1765, Booth placed the following ad in the Williamson’s Advertiser:
“On Monday, 7th, inst., at a large and convenient room near the Old Church Liverpool will be opened an Academy for the Instruction of Youth in the following useful and polite branches of learning viz. of the English Grammar, the Latin, Greek, French & German Languages, Writing in all the different hands, Geometry, Navigation, the Italian Method of Bookkeeping, Drawing & Music in the Spring, Summer & Autumn Quarters. The Art of Fencing between the hours of twelve and one (during which time the Gentlemen will not be permitted to stay in the Rooms). Ladies may be taught Drawing, Writing, Arithmetic & Geography. Rev. Mr. Booth”.
Booth soon began to meet the Liverpool elite, including parishioners Joseph Valens and his daughters, Anne Bardsley, a 33-year-old widow, and her sister Mary Valens, age 24. The two women offered to help run the school without pay. This partnership would be a lifelong endeavor.
Soon, the classroom in Liverpool became too small, and the school moved to Woolton Hall, a large estate five miles from Liverpool. In order to fill this new school, Booth cast a wider net, placing an advertisement in the Virginia Gazette in 1766, the same year that George William was born. Despite his success, Booth’s family problems continued to haunt him. Writing to a friend, Ralph Peters, Booth ponders the advantages of emigrating to the colonies, admitting that “the greatest of all Inducements which I must leave this Kingdom is my unhappy marriage. ‘Tis True I have not been shocked with a Sight of the imprudent cause of all my Misfortunes for these ten Years past, yet still I am troubled and frequently hurt with Accounts of her Behaviour which is blamable in the highest Degree.” Booth writes that he has provided provisions for her and is free to leave.
At the end of May in 1772, the Hall was sold to Nicholas Ashton and Booth emigrated to Maryland where he continued his educational services. Peter Newby had begun to write poetry and his The Farewell, set in the grounds of Woolton Hall was published in 1773.
NICHOLAS ASHTON

Nicholas Ashton was the next owner of Woolton Hall. He was a successful merchant and shipping owner and purchased the property in 1772. A brief view of his father’s interests show that he had an interest in the Dungeon salt processing works near Hale Village (Oglet). In 1759, John Ashton passed away leaving the remaining assets of the business to his son. Nicholas was 17 at the time and this would have been a sizable interest.
Nicholas could be traced living at Hanover Street in Liverpool and then following this he moved to Clayton Square. Much like his father he became a successful businessman. In 1770 he served as High Sheriff of Lancashire and was also a magistrate for several years. It is noted that Nicholas Ashton was also a founder member of the Athenaeum in 1979. During 1763, he married Mary Philpott in Chester, and he extended the house they lived in at the time. Sadly, Mary died in 1777, and he remarried Catherine Hodson of Liverpool four years later.
He moved into Woolton Hall in 1772 and during his lifetime, he had a total of eleven children, all of which spent time at Woolton Hall. His considerable wealth meant that he could make substantial changes to Woolton Hall, and he commissioned the noted architect Robert Adam to remodel Woolton Hall.
The noted architect Robert Adam was said to have remodelled the interior of the Hall, to redesign the carriage front, the entrance hall, the main stairwell and the octagon room are all parts of Adam’s work. However, when one views the interior of the property today, far more of Robert Adam’s work can be seen. The ceiling in the front parlour room, the ceiling in Mrs. Ashton’s room, and parts of the tapestry room. It is not noted but we believe that the tapestry room may hold a false ceiling with further work by Robert Adam.
At the end of 1780, the work was completed and Woolton Hall would have been palatial with a grand entrance sweeping into a carriageway, a Robert Adam’s designed entrance chamber and further rooms designed by Robert Adam. As well as managing Woolton Hall, Nicholas Ashton kept his workers in good order too. He constructed Ashton Square (off School Lane) which housed estate workers. Nicholas Ashton lived at the Hall until his death in 1833. With his death, the Hall was passed to his son, Joseph, born in 1783. He survived his father by only three years but had children so they could inherit. Nicholas Ashton and both wives are commemorated by Hatchments in Childwall Church.
If the 1841 census is reviewed, we can see that Mary Ashton was in residence (Nicholas’s sister). She was 65 and was head of the household. One of Nicholas’s other sons Henry was resident at the recently built Woolton Woods property – just behind the Hall. Joseph’s family continued to reside at Woolton Hall and the 1851 census found his widow, Elizabeth Ashton aged 57, there. In addition, there were two visitors, six household servants, a footman, a lady’s maid, a cook, two housemaids, and a dairymaid. By 1865 Woolton Hall would be sold again. We must take a moment to reflect that Woolton Hall was a very busy Hall at this point. At least six servants were needed and various other people to run the Hall. Therefore, they would have made use of the servant’s staircase rather than the principal staircase that the owners would have used.
JAMES REDDECLIFFE JEFFERY
James Reddecliffe Jeffery purchased Woolton Hall in a strange twist of fate. James and William, two brothers born in Plymouth owned Compton House which stood on Church Street in Liverpool, more or less opposite the former St Peter’s Church across the road (demolished in 1922).
Their company was called Jeffery & Co and was established in 1832.
The building contained within a clothier, cabinet makers and Liverpool’s largest drapers, with around 180 staff living on the upper floors. In December 1865, two police officers walking their beat discovered smoke coming from the basement of the property. Fire engines were called in from the West of England fire brigade as well as 40 men from the nearby HMS Donegal offering assistance. By midnight, all of the internal floors collapsed leaving on the shell remaining.
In the aftermath, the business was assessed for damages with a loss of £200,000 for stock plus £100,000 for the building. Owing to much of the company’s stock being insured, James Reddecliffe Jeffery went ahead and purchased Woolton Hall and made plans for Compton House to be rebuilt.
Sadly, William passed away in 1868 leaving James to run the business, but it never made enough money to be successful and the business closed in 1871. The building was then sub divided into several shops. James would pass away a few months later. During Jeffery’s time at Woolton Hall, he kept the building in very good order and spent a great deal of money enhancing the property. He added the massive Porte Cochere over the entrance and built the apse in 1865. However, with Jeffery’s financial situation, the Hall was auctioned off but only the effects were sold at the time. The building stood empty still under Jeffery’s name till 1877 when it was purchased by Frederick Richards Leyland Esq.
FREDERICK RICHARDS LEYLAND ESQ

Frederick Richards Leyland was born in 1831. He was noted as one of the largest British shipowners, running 25 steamships in the transatlantic trade. He was also a major art collector, who commissioned works from several of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood painters.
Leyland served as an apprentice in the firm of John Bibby, Sons & Co, where he rose to become a partner. In 1867, he took on the tenancy of Speke Hall, Liverpool, and in 1869 bought a house in London at 49 Princes Gate. At the end of 1872, when the Bibby partnership dissolved, he bought out his employers and changed the company name to the Leyland Line in 1873. Under his direction the line expanded into transatlantic trade and by 1882 had 25 steamships. He retired from active business in 1888, leaving his son Frederick Dawson Leyland in charge.
Frederick was married in 1855 to Frances Dawson and in 1861 found them living at 104 Huskisson Street.
Leyland and his family lived at Speke Hall as ‘guardians’ for Adelaide Watt who had inherited the Hall when her father died. In 1867 Frederick leased Speke Hall for a while.
In 1877, Frederick Richards Leyland purchased Woolton Hall. However, it is difficult to pinpoint exactly what time he spent there. He was known to have had several mistresses and several illegitimate children. However, work continued at Woolton Hall for his requirements. The front lawn was raised, the garden and estate walls rebuilt, and new entrance gates were constructed. Woodleigh (now in the central reservation of High Street) was the former lodge to the Hall near the ornamental gates on the main drive. It was built before 1846 with a low-pitched roof – facing High Street.
The upper story was added by Leyland with a high-pitched roof and the gate piers and wrought iron gates were re-sited from beside the lodge when High Street acquired a second carriageway and trams in 1925. Frederick passed away in London in 1892 and was buried in Brompton Cemetery in an elaborate tomb. From his death there was a gap of ownership of Woolton Hall for 6 years.
PETER MCGUFFIE

There was a gap ‘in service’ for Woolton Hall until it was sold to Peter McGuffie in 1898. If we are to look at the census records, we can see that he was born in 1851 and by 1901 he was a ship owner aged 50. His wife, Annie, three sons (James, Andrew and John Frederick) and daughter Jeanie were all living at Woolton Hall at this time.
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McGuffie had been a Conservative Liverpool City Councillor for Warbreck ward for nine years but chose to retire and move across to Woolton. In short, he saw Woolton Hall as a fantastic opportunity to expand the property and open the Hall as a Hydropathic establishment. In layman’s terms, this would have been a fashionable ‘treatment’ business. The building was then known as Woolton Hall Hydro and as McGuffie thought that Woolton Hall was slightly too small for his business requirements, he extended across to the wing on the left-hand side of the property.
Woolton Hall Hydro was opened for business in 1899, and it was stated that the dining room could seat 300 guests! Peter McGuffie died in 1911, and his probate records amounted to £14,225. He was listed as a ‘Gentleman’.
If we are to review the 1911 census, it shows his widow still living at Woolton Hall with her daughter, Jean and her son Andrew (now aged 30). Andrew McGuffie was then listed as the Proprietor of Woolton Hall Hydro. There is no direct evidence that James McGuffie became involved in the hotel business, although listed in the census he was listed as living at Woolton Hall. Whatever family was in charge at the time, they had done sterling work to remodel Woolton Hall into the Hydro. There had been a further renovation of the Hall in 1913. It is listed as showing Sidney Herbert Pinnian as the manager.
Described as Woolton Hall Hydro, it was listed as ‘extensive gardens and woodlands, tennis courts, a croquet lawn, greenhouses, a motor garage, and a 9-hole golf course! Andrew McGuffie himself wanted to sell the hotel enterprise since hydropathic establishments had gone out of fashion and it may be that the Woolton Hall experiment was never a true success. The Hall, at the time, had just 40 acres attached to it rather than the 400 acres that Richard Molyneux originally purchased in 1704. To this day, the land that Woolton Hall has been encroached on additional neighbours, reducing its size even further.
WOOLTON HALL AUXILIARY HOSPITAL

With the outbreak of World War 1, in 1914, Woolton Hall was offered for use as an auxiliary hospital. However, it is somewhat unclear who exactly offered the use of Woolton Hall at this time. Mr Holbrook Gaskell offered his house, Woolton Woods, which became a nurse’s home. Camp Hill became a 60-bed auxiliary hospital, Woolton Convalescent Hospital became a 100-bed hospital, and Woolton Hall served as a significant military auxiliary hospital.
It cost £10,000 to re-equip the property which became a 200-bed hospital from 21st September 1914 until June 1919. Dr Charles Vereker was the medical officer in charge. Altogether 2,963 patients passed through the hospital. It would be expected that local people would have assisted this building by working in the kitchens and attending to laundry.
Who actually owned Woolton Hall is a bit of a mystery at the time. Captain Peter McGuffie, the oldest of the three surviving brothers gave Woolton Hall as his address in 1920 when applying for his war medals. Land was sold during the 1920’s and the new Liverpool Tramway was built cutting through the northern boundary of the hall estate to Woolton Street in 1925.
When war began in 1939, Woolton Hall was requisitioned by the Government and became a headquarters for the Middlesex regiment. This was because the regiment was equipped with machine guns and deployed to defend airports – including that of Speke. Many men slept under canvas in the grounds of the Hall. During the latter stages of the war, the United States Air Force had use of the building too.
JOHN HIBBERT

After the war, Woolton Hall was used by the Sisters of Notre Dame for a short while. In 1970, the school merged with Notre Dame High School and as the new school next door was built up, Woolton Hall was once again without an owner.
Local businessman, John Hibbert saw an opportunity with Woolton Hall. It was earmarked for demolition in the 1980’s until John came along, purchased the Hall and set about a restoration process on this fine structure.
He spent £100,000 in changing some of the layout of the rooms upstairs with some additional doors, some rooms were changed in their layout and Woolton Hall would once again be the place to go for a birthday, a wedding afternoon or local celebrations. Many people can still recall being a guest at a party at Woolton Hall and it was thanks to John that this Hall was saved from demolition.
He would still provide guided tours to local people and groups of interest and give a full detailed description of the history of the Hall, his time there and the unique points in Woolton Hall such as the Robert Adam designed ceilings. It was sad to hear that in 2024, John Hibbert passed away. RIP John Hibbert.
It was soon after ownership that Woolton Hall was given Grade I listed status, and this has protected the building ever since. John decided to sell the Hall on to the next owner in 1985, but he became known as the caretaker and still visited the Hall whenever he could.