A time capsule placed above a doorway by two young boys in 1881 has been found during demolition work in Gateacre village. The bundle of documents was discovered by a demolition team working at the site of the Gateacre Hall Hotel on Halewood Road. The time capsule had been hidden above the lintel of a door when the building was undergoing building work in the late 19th century.
The package had lain undiscovered for 124 years before being found by a workman during the demolition of the building to make way for a development of modern apartments. The sandstone lintel, dating from the 1600’s was being preserved at the request of the Gateacre Society, who now have safekeeping of the contents of the time capsule.
 | | One of the letters |
In 1881 the building was the home of a wealthy cotton merchant George Hunter Robertson, his two sons George and James wrote four pages each giving a rich description of life in Gateacre in the late Victorian period. They described the local characters and buildings and attached many artifacts from the time including copies of the Liverpool Daily Post and the New York Herald, a Cheshire lines railway timetable, catalogues and adverts for local businesses and a telegram from their father informing his wife that he would be working late and staying in Liverpool city centre. A wealthy merchant George Hunter Robertson was a cotton merchant in Liverpool and was a member of the Liverpool’s high society, he was instrumental in setting up one of the first telephone exchanges in Liverpool and amongst the artifacts is an invite to a civic reception with the Lord Mayor at the Town Hall. The first letter contained in the documents read “This is written by George Hunter Finlay Robertson son of George Hunter and Constance Robertson, aged 15 years on the 20th of February last. The family consists of George Hunter Robertson, George Hunter Finlay, James Hunter, Constance Robertson, Helena Wosley Robertson, Rubina Robertson.” The letters written on George Hunter Robertson’s headed memorandum paper include descriptions of Gateacre village at the time. An extract reads “The principle shops are Mr Lees the baker and grocers, Mrs Hiltons the chemist, Mrs Sefton the provisions dealer. There are three hotels in Gateacre, The Bear, The Bull, The Brown Cow. The Bull was set on fire on the 12th January 1881.” Treasure Trove
National events also impinge on the letters, an addendum to James Robertson’s letter states that Benjamin Disraeli has just died. The New York Herald, which bears the stamp of the Athenaeum club, includes a story about the hunt for the Indian leader Sitting Bull. The Liverpool Daily Post includes reports on the state of the cotton trade and contains adverts for local businesses and includes an advert for Lewis’s written in Welsh. Amongst the other contents is a quotation from a local builder, an advert for a Childwall coal merchant, and a hand drawn sketch of the lintel of the door. Beryl Plent of the Gateacre Society said "The time capsule was a bundle of documents that fell to the floor. The container was broken, one of the demolition men picked them up, thought they looked interesting took them to Manchester and showed them to his father-in-law. He then contacted us, a very exciting moment." | 
