Note 66 — Chapter VII

Mr. John Dickenson, a wealthy merchant, who lodged and entertained the Pretender on the occasion of his visit to Manchester, purchased, in 1745 the Birch Hall estate, in Rusholme. His grandson, John Dickenson, had an only daughter, Louisa Frances Mary Dickenson, who married General Sir William Anson, Bart., K.C.B., a distinguished Peninsular officer, and by him was mother of Sir John William Hamilton Anson, who was killed in the railway accident at Wigan, August 2nd, 1873, and of the Venerable and Rev. George Henry Greville Anson, rector of Birch and Archdeacon of Manchester. It is stated that the bed on which the Pretender lay while Mr. Dickenson's guest, was removed to Birch Villa, where it remained until the death of Miss Dickenson, when it was sold.