Born in 1813, G.H.Ackers was a Manchester businessman with interests in property, cotton and textiles.
In 1832-3 he is listed as a cornet in the Royal Regiment of Horse Guards, together with Lord Alfred Paget, who may have introduced him to the Royal Yacht Squadron. He was later Lieutenant-Colonel of the Queen’s Own Staffordshire Yeomanry, Commodore of the Royal Victoria Yacht Club, Magistrate and Deputy-Lieutenant for Cheshire, and High Sheriff for the County.
He is remembered in Cheshire for building Great Moreton Hall near Congleton, a vast neo-Gothic castle designed by the architect of Buckingham Palace, Edward Blore.
A keenly competitive sailor, he gave the Royal Yacht Squadron the Ackers Graduated Scale – a system of handicapping based on seconds per ton that was used for many years from 1843. In 1847 he published a book, Universal Yacht Signals.
He died in 1872.