I’ve spent so much time researching my ancestors on the Scott side that I felt it was time to do a bit on the maternal side. Formby Hall is the house built by the Formby family on my mother’s side of my family tree. Over the years the hall has seen many owners and occupants. Many modifications and additions have been made to the original building.
The present house called Formby Hall was built for William Formby and dates back to 1523, but it is believed that the Formby family has occupied the site since the 12th century. But it was Squire John Formby (who took inspiration from the Gothic-style architecture of Horace Walpole’s home in London) who had added the battlements, improved its front elevation, laid out its lawns, constructed a lake, and planted a fine woodland. He was seen as a bit high-handed but his letters show him to be a man of refinement, tender feeling, and warm friendship—all of which he passed on to his medical grandson. In 1896, the hall was modernised by Colonel John Formby who added the West Wing drawing room.
Throughout the years the hall had been inherited down the generations to the sons of the Lord of the Manor. Unfortunately this chain was ended in 1958 upon the death of Colonel John Frederick Lonsdale Formby whose sons had both died during World War II. The estate was inherited by an Austratlian nephew but fell into disrepair. In the 1970s, John Moors Jr. leased the hall and the lands and used it as a home to house children from the crowded areas of inner city Liverpool. In the 1980s it was once again left to the elements and fell into dereliction.
It was during this period or before that the house acquired the paintings on the walls that became part of local folklore, most notably the large, striking painting of a woman’s face above a fireplace on the house’s west side. Executed in household paint, the face was reputed to be the center of strange phenomena. The painting was removed or destroyed during the early part of the renovations in 1990. How I wish I could find out more about this!
After this, Richard Irving acquired the whole Formby estate. At that time it was a run down collection of derelict buildings and unkempt land. After two years of being frustrated by the local planners, he sold the hall to another local businessman, who bought it as “site as seen” without even conducting a survey. This new owner has restored the hall to its former glory. The remaining land was sold to other local businessmen who developed it into a golf course and resort. The resort is beautiful.
Formby Hall is basically a 3 storey brick house with stone dressings which has been stuccoed white. It has 5 bays and end bays of 2 storeys. It has an embattled parapet, end bays that have flat pilaster strips, and 2nd and 4th bays that have rusticated quoins. And I have no idea what these terms mean, but it sounds fancy. The hall has windows of 5 lights with ogee-traceried heads and large diamond panes. To the northwest is a one-storey wing with embattled parapet and bowed end. To the northeast is a square tower with embattled parapet. On the interior, the central room has 2 Doric columns on the south side opposite the fireplace with Doric columns and an iron grate. There are some 18th century fireplaces remaining, one which is marble. There is a groined vault to the central 1st floor room and a late 19th century stair.
Late marriages were not unusual in the Formby family. John Formby was aged 39 years when he married Mary Hesketh in the year 1760 and their only child, a son, was born within the year. He was christened Richard—one of many of that name in the family. John’s grandfather, Richard, had married a widow, Ann Hesketh. The Heskeths were a well-established Lancashire family. In the later generation, Dr. Richard Formby’s younger brother was named Roger Hesketh Formby.
There are traditions that troops for the suppression of the rebellion of 1715 were embarked at Formby for Scotland and that early in the 18th century, a proposal was made that docks should be constructed here rather than at Liverpool.
The Formby family were Catholics until the 18th century (with the exception of the younger branch) when they lost the Faith and closed their chapel of their 15th century mansion.
We stopped at the gate of Formby Hall & I tried to see the house. The large black gates and long drive were impressive. A man ran by who told me it could be seen further down the road, but when I got there, he also got there and said that the trees now covered the view. Oh well. It’s not like I can just go up and knock on the door.
We found the Ancient Chapelry of St. Peter in Formby next. It is the church that was built after the original church was destroyed in a storm. The Church is not the first Church dedicated to St Peter to stand in Formby. The title 'The Ancient Chapelry of Formby, St Peter' tells that a chapel existed in Formby from early times - in what was a detached part of the ancient parish of St Mary, Walton.
The ancient chapel stood close to the sea (on the site of the present St Luke's Church) and was destroyed in 1739. The chief resident of the family had conformed to the Established religion, too. So the decision was made to build a new church on a site further inland (upon a piece of waste land in a central position) and there is evidence from a parish in Oxfordshire that a nation-wide levy - by order of 'Letters Pattents' of the King - was made for this purpose. The total amount collected by this levy was 1154 pence. Some of the material of the old chapel was used in the new church such as the sundial. the coat of arms, and some of the stone. St. Peter’s Church, enlarged in 1830, is a plain brick building with a campanile containing one bell
This is a Georgian-style church with very elegant clear glass windows dating from 1746. Box pews and a pulpit on the south side of the church between the windows were revealed in a seating plan of 1767.
Unique semicircular wooden beam trusses support the roof. A lovely Victorian chancel was added in 1869. Major changes to the building took place in the 1870s when the old apsidal east end was removed and the present chancel, sanctuary, and side chapel (The Formby Chapel) was added. This was done in neo-Gothic style, popular at the time. So if you stand in the middle of the church at the chancel steps and look west then east, the differing styles are very evident. Two members of the Formby family of Formby Hall (Richard formby & Lonsdale Formby) were incumbents of St. Peter’s for the major part of the 19th century and monuments to them are on the west wall of the Formby Chapel. The names go back to 1205 and Albinus is mentioned as a Presbyter, Ricardus Fourmbi in 1407, Robert de Fforneby in 1260, and Roger de Fformby in 1378. The list goes up all the way to Lonsdale Formby 1859 who built this chapel.
I arrived just as the Sunday service was ending and waited until most of the people had left. I walked around for a minute then approached a gentleman in a suit (John) and asked where the Formby Chapel was. I told him they were my ancestors. He was very helpful and pointed me in the right direction. The church and especially the Formby Chapel were beautiful and very well maintained. The gentleman approached me as I was about to leave and asked if I found everything I needed. I thanked him and he said that the congregation loved this church and took very good care of it and would continue to do so for me. I thought that was so sweet. He said the church was built in 1747, he thought.
We then visited St. Luke’s Parish church Formby. In Ravenmeols (an area of 658 acres), probably the earliest area of Formby to be inhabited, a Norman chapel had been built on the site of a Saxon oratory, close to the sand dunes north of the little River Alt. The old building which once stood on the site dated back to around 1200 AD and was built by or connected with the monks of Cockersand Abbey on the Ribble estuary. Prodigious storms were common along that part of the coast. The sea was ever eroding and sand encroaching on land, houses, and farm buildings. In 1739, a devastating gale blew down the chapel, covering with sand the flat stone graves of the Formby family and crashing down the trees on the statuary of the graves. There, with his ancestors, John Formby was laid to rest.
The present St. Luke’s Church was built in 1852-5 near the site of the ancient chapel which had been here for centuries (since the 12th century). The previous church (it was called Formby Chapel) was badly damaged in a storm in 1739 so the decision was made to build a church further inland and nearer to the developing township. This led to the building of St. Peter's Church. However, the graveyard at St. Luke's continued to be used.
The coming of the railway to Formby, and the Victorian enthusiasm for sea bathing led to the prospect of a "Formby-by-Sea" resort. Anxious that any new development should not be "Godless" two members of the local Formby family, Mary and Richard, built the present church on the site of the previous one. The new church was dedicated to St. Luke, perhaps because Richard Formby, like St. Luke, was a doctor (he was a pioneer in the use of anaesthetics). The 1855 church was the nave of the present church, with the sanctuary and transepts added in 1897-8. During the procession for the consecration of the church in 1855, snow had to be cleared away. A little black dog joined the procession and Richard Formby stuffed it between his knees during the ceremony to make sure it was quiet. Richard Formby had given the land on which the Church was built. He trained as a doctor at Cambridge and trained in Edinburgh. He worked as a doctor in Liverpool and was a pioneer in the development of chloroform as an anaesthetic. He was dounfer of the Liverpool Medical School. His sister, Mary, ran a Girls’ School in Formby and paid for most of the cost of building the Church. Most of the “sayings” and verses in the church have to do with healing as this was Richard’s profession.
We walked around in the graveyard to find the Formby graves while the service continued. Members of Richard Formby’s family are not buried ina mausoleum but are clustered together in a group of altar tombs near the original village cross which was moved to the churchyard by the Formby family in 1879. It once stood on the village green and was used during the Great Plague of 1665 when its hollows (holes in the steps) were tilled with vinegar so that coins that were left for food by those with the Plague could be disinfected. In the eighteenth century, we are told, a man sold his wife at this cross! When the original wooden cross rotted by the 1960s, a replica was made of English Oak. The earliest graves here date from 1666. The oldest Formby grave is that of Richard Formby who died in 1737. “An honest man and a good father.” The Formby coat of arms, well-worn, is carved on his grave. His wife, Mary, has her character depicted on the end panel, which shows the last chapter of Proverbs. (“Many women are good wives, but you ar ethe best of them all.”) She died in 1766.
The church keeps records locked in a safe. One of these shows the first marriage in the church in 1888. The newspaper report said: “The wedding equipages, drawn by five pairs of magnificent greys, were handsome and well appointed.” The first baptism was in 1856.The oldest street lamp in Formby is here. It was installed as a gas lamp in 1897 so that parishioners could find their way to the church at night down the lanes to the dark isolated spot where the church stands.
The graveyard contains much of interest, especially the carved Godstone which some suggest was used as a "rebus" to convert the Vikings to Christianity. Some say it shows the path to heaven as you climb the steps of faith, hope and love, become a Christian, and then go to heaven. It was a custonm in the old days to carry bodies 3 times anti-clockwise around the Godstone before they were buried to drive away evil spirits. Percy French, the famous Irish entertainer, is buried here, and the graveyard also houses the old village stocks from Liverpool Road.
We weren’t supposed to be able to go inside until 2, but once everyone was out of the church, I again approached a nice gentleman and told him about my ancestors and asked if I might go into the church for a second. “Of course, you can,” he exclaimed. “Get on in there!” He was so genuinely welcoming that I instantly felt at home. Colin Trollope was his name, such a wonderful man, and he offered to show me around if I wished. Oh, yes, please.
The church has many interesting features, notably the Rose Window dating from the 1897-8 alterations. The window features flowers local to the area, including marsh marigolds, sea holly and irises. It and the 3 windows underneath it are a memorial to Richard & Mary Formby by Richard’s daughter, Caroline Hesketh Formby in 1897-8. She also enlarged the church from just a nave to include the chancel with the large East Window and two vestries. The inscription on the window reads: “It is I. Be not afraid.”The church also contains relics which are much older than the present building. A font, probably from the first church on the site, is still in use. It is in the porch holding flowers and has twenty-three sides and experts date it to the 12th century. It was found in the churchyard and had been used to sharpen scythes. It is still used for baptisms.
Also in the porch is the gravestone of Richard Formby who died in 1407 and was armour bearer to Henry IV and V. The gravestone was originally in York Minster. When Richard Formby was visiting York, he saw the gravestone. He provided a facsimile fravestone and was allowed to bring the original damaged one (damaged in a fire in 1840) home to St. Luke’s. The Latin inscription reads: HIC JACET RICARDUS FOURMBI QUONDAM ARMIJER DOMINI NRI REGIS OBIIT VICESIMO SCDO DIE EMNS SEPTEBR ANO DOMINI MILLEO CCC VII CUJUS ANIMO PRO PICIETUR DEUS. Which means: Here lies Richard Formby at one time armour bearer to our Lord the King who died on 22nd of the month of September in the year of our Lord 1407. To whose soul may God grant rest. Little is known about the ancestor but it is said that a thigh bone found in the grave indicated a man of great stature. Indeed, evidently he was called Richard the Giant as he was 7 feet tall!
Colin showed me the two stained glass windows by Minnitt which have doves in them and rare purple glass. He also pointed out the Formby plaques on the walls. He also told me the story of how the organ pipes in the church are purely decorative, for show. One of them almost hit a choir member on the head one morning when it fell! The Formby Memorials show the sacrifices made by the family in war. A Richard Formby was killed in the Battle of Crete. Several were killed in the Great War. A brother-in-law of Richard Formby, Col. McNabb, was killed in Tunisia. There was a plaque to Rev. Richard Formby who died in 1859, aged 79 years & a separate plaque for his wife and 3 daughters. The church has only had 6 ministers in its 150 year history. When the church first opened, it had 109 free seats. The other 229 seats could be booked by paying an annual Pew Rent! Families often had elaborate pews designed for thie exclusive use. The Formbys didn’t but the church still keeps the little cupboard where the family kept their Prayer Books.
Colin told me that Capt. Myles Lonsdale Formby used to live in what is now the Country Club, Shirrocks Hill, just down the road. So I walked down there for a quick visit. The ruins of another house are further on but we didn’t have time to search it out.
As we drove home, we passed by Sutton Manor’s “Dream” sculpture which is a white head 20 meters high and 50 times life size. Just sitting there in the middle of a forest. Funny how our GPS pronounces Birmingham as “Buh-meh-nehm.” We tried to find a McDonalds using the GPS’s directions, but as usual with McDonalds, it was nowhere to be found.
Met up with Margaret & Colin next door at Little Chef. For dinner, we drove to Nantwich, a lovely village with the most amazing black and white buildings. Most of the city was destroyed by fire in 1583. It was rebuilt with help from Queen Elizabeth I and the buildings are still standing!!! Leaning in places, perhaps, but still standing and being used! We ate dinner at a wonderful Italian restaurant called Romazzino. The wine was delicious as was my lasagne, and dessert, which I can’t even recall what it was called or what it had in it, was so good. It’s always fun to get together with Margaret & Colin and catch up on all of our news.
Pictures from top: gates of Formby Hall; gatehouse at Formby Hall; the only drawing I could find of Formby Hall; list of Formbys in St. Peter’s Formby Chapel. St. Peter’s Parish Church of Formby.
