Wirral Life July 2018 | Page 25

REVIEW OF 'PORT SUNLIGHT AND ITS PEOPLE' BY JO BIRCH Hidden in a safe at Thornton Manor for over a century, the late Lord Leverhulme’s personal account book, given to author Jo Birch by Philip Cowan, current owner of this celebrated home, has been the inspiration behind a new book, ‘Port Sunlight and its People’. Lord Digby Jones comments: “This book is a celebration of a great man”. The book is filled with terrific images including charming Victorian scraps scattered amongst its pages. We visit the soap factory in the late 1800s and smile at the thought of Lord Leverhulme, as a young boy, being given 30 shillings by his father for a holiday of 14 days in the Isle of Man. The author takes us with her when she visits William Lever’s early home in Wigan. We see how he accounted for every penny, even recording how many nails were purchased for the kitchen and their cost. Taking information from Lord Leverhulme’s account book (written in his own hand) we learn how much he paid for straw mattresses for his servants and we see how much he spent on alterations to Thornton Manor. The author shares her thoughts on why Lord Leverhulme was not on RMS Titanic’s passenger list and includes us in her own travels around the world. In Honolulu we look over Mr Lever’s shoulder as he makes an entry in his diary: “We found the two prisoners chatting together, looking out of the window at the end of their corridor. One of the women professed to be a native ‘Kapoona’ or witch-doctor; and had murdered a man, a woman and a young child with great brutality and cruelty, gouging out their eyes with burnt sticks and partially roasting them in full sight of a crowd of natives, many of whom had assisted her”. We see Christmas Cards sent from the villagers and learn of a young boy who was killed in the soap factory when a lift in which he was working became jammed and he was crushed. Remarkably, all the images bar one come from the author’s personal collection, part of which is displayed in the Port Sunlight museum. A regular guest at Thornton Manor, Jo Birch speaks with some authority, not only about her personal collection but on sleeping in Lord Leverhulme’s open-air bedroom; few in the world have done so. There is joy in this book. And there is sorrow. There is hard nosed business and there is charity. An easy to read, fascinating book, glorious illustrations and a reminder to us all how great the Leverhulme story is. In a note from the author at the beginning of the book, she states she hopes we find something within it to warm our hearts. We certainly did. Port Sunlight and its People is available to buy in Port Sunlight village at the museum, garden centre and Lady Lever art gallery, Amazon and bookshops, locally and worldwide. WIN A SIGNED BOOK, ENTRY AND AFTERNOON TEA FOR TWO AT PORT SUNLIGHT MUSEUM Wirral Life have teamed up with author Jo Birch to give readers the chance to win this prize. To enter the competition, email your answer to hello@ wirrallife.com along with your name, address, email and contact telephone number. Question: How much did the young William Lever’s father give him for a 14 day holiday in the Isle of Man? Entries close on 6th August 2018. Good luck! wirrallife.com 25