Untitled Document

BBC

17 September 2003

Confederates and their Liverpool Connections

Contary to British and European agreements- which required British citizens to remain neutral during civil wars - Liverpool came out in open support of the Confederates.

When Liverpool went Dixie

Background to the Civil War
The war divided America between the Northern and Southern States (known as the Confederate States).
There are many causes to the war although they centre on State rights.
War broke out in April 1861.

At this time 60% of the Confederate States' cotton was coming through Liverpool - once the Northern ships began blocking their passage this had a huge impact upon trade within Liverpool.
Liverpool also made a large amount of money directly from the Slave Trade which the Confederates supported.

This great city has gone fro the South from the first day and the feeling is at...pretty high pressure

The offices in Rumford Place had a direct connection to the Confederates. George Trenholm & Charles Prioleau who handled their financial affairs worked from there.

The buildings today have been given Confederate linked names:

Named After: The most sucessful Confederate Raider - The CSS Alabama	Named After: James Dunwoody Bulloch - the Confederate 'spy'	Named After: The Liverpool branch of the Charleston cotton firm, John Fraser & Co., who became the European bankers for the Confederacy.



Named After: The man employed to captain the CSS Alabama	Named After: Homer Winslow who became a reknowned war reporter.	Named After: The name originally given to the CSS Alabama.

Other Confederate Connections:

The first shot of the civil war was fired by a gun built in Duke Street and the last surrender was made in the Mersey when the CSS Shenandoah surrendered to the British Government rather than the American Government.

THE TIMES, Friday 7th October 1864

BAZAAR in aid of the SOUTHERN PRISONERS’ RELIEF FUND

Lady Patronesses H. I. H. the Princess Murat
The Marchioness Of Lothian
The Marchioness of Bath
The Marchioness of Allesbury
La Marquise de Montmort
The Countess of Chesterfield
The Countess of Tankerville
Lady Mildred Beresford Hope
Lady Rosa Greville
The Countess Bentivoglio
Lady Georgina Fane
Lady Eustace Cecil
Lady Warncliffe
La Vicomtesse de Dampierre
La Baronne de Langueil
Lady de Hoghton
Lady Anson
Lady Eardly
Mrs Horsefall, Liverpool
Mrs Laird, Birkenhead
Mrs Akroyd, Halifax
Mrs Collie, London
Mrs Hannan, Glasgow

It is intended to hold a BAZAAR in St. Georges Hall, commencing on Tuesday, October 18, in aid of the Southern Prisoners’ Relief Fund.
Many ladies, in addition to those named, have promised their active aid. The suffering of the Southern prisoners of war in sickness, wounds, and deprivation of every comfort of life; the multitudes of widows to whom nothing remains, and of orphans unable to help themselves, form an amount of woe which some who are blessed here with an abundance and peace have felt a desire to alleviate. Efforts have already been made, and not without success, through reliable friends in the Northern States, but unhappily the field is wide that aid is now required to replace the means already provided and exhausted. It is hoped that assistance will not be refused in this work, which is wholly one of humanity - of sympathy for the great sorrows and suffering that now afflict a people of our own race.

The stalls of the Southern States will be held by the following ladies:
Virginia: La Vicomtesse de Dampierre. Mrs.Patterson. Mrs M. G. Klingender
N. Carolina: Mrs. Spence. Mrs Wothington.
S. Carolina: The Lady Warncliffe. Mrs. Prioleau
Georgia: Mrs Bulloch. Mrs Patrick
Alabama: Mrs Malcomson. Mrs. Pratt.
Mississippi: The Countess of Chesterfield. The Right Hon. Mrs Sliddell.
Louisianna: Mrs. Byrne. Mrs. T. Byrne. Mrs. F.Rodewald.
Texas: Mrs. A. Forwood. Mrs. W. Forwood. Mrs. W. Heyn.
Arkansas: Mrs. Sillem. Mrs. J. Wilklink.
Tennessee: The Lady M. Beresford Hope. Mrs. F. Hull.
Kentucky: Lady de Hoghton. Mrs. G. W. Oliver.
Treasurer: CHARLES K. PRIOLEAU.
Hon.Sec.: JAMES SPENCE Liverpool

Confederate Bazaar - In October 1864 Liverpool staged a bazaar at St George's hall called the 'Southern Prisoners' Relief Fund'. It lasted for 5 days and raised over £20,000. The stalls included a raffle for a donkey! A modern day connection to this is that the present secretary of "The Friends of St. George's Hall" is a direct relation of Lady Mildred Beresford Hope, one of the patronesses of the Grand Southern Bazaar.

The last offical Confederate Flag was lowered in Liverpool on 6 November 1865 when CSS Shenandoah, captained by Lieutenant Waddell, arrived in the Mersey. He lowered the flag and his ship was ultimately turned over to American authorities.

President Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth in l865 just days after the surrender of the Confederates. Booth's father, Junius Booth, a Shakespearean actor, came from Liverpool.