The Watertons
Charles Waterton
was the representative of one of the most ancient of English families.
He was justly proud of his heritage.
He could claim descent from Sir
Thomas More. Walton Hall once contained a clock that belonged to that
famous ancestor. His other ancestors were also of noble stock.
The
following account of the Waterton family (1) is
based upon an article in the Illustrated London News of 17th
June 1865 and had been "revised by a member of the house"
shortly after the Squire's death. There are a number of discrepancies
between this account and others, these will be pointed out as appropriate.
However, it gives a reasonable overall idea of the noble ascentry
of the Watertons, even if the odd detail is suspect.
Extract from The Illustrated London News 17th June 1865 (7)
The
good and amiable old Lord of Walton, Charles Waterton, better known
for miles around his ancestral domain as "the squire"
was the representative of one of our most ancient untitled aristocratic
families. His ancestor was Reiner, the son of Norman of Normandy
(this should be Normanby in the Isle of Axholme,
Lincolnshire = Normanebi),
who became Lord of Waterton (after Waterton
in Lincolnshire) in 1159. Reiner was of Saxon origin (not
so, read more here). The Watertons of Waterton became extinct in the male line
in the 15th century, when their vast possessions passed away, through
Cecilia, wife of Lord Welles and heiress of her brother, Sir Robert
Waterton, to her four daughters and co-heiresses. The daughters
married Robert, Lord Willoughby de Eresby, Sir Thomas Dymoke, Thomas
Laurence Esq., and Sir Thomas Delaware.
Sir
John Waterton was high sheriff of Lincoln in 1401 and master
of horse to Henry V at Agincourt. His brother was Sir
Robert (but not this one!), whose wife was a lady of the garter (see side
panel). Sir Robert was governor or constable of Pontefract Castle
whilst Richard II was confined there; the deposed king died there
in suspicious circumstances in February 1400 (see side panel).
Sir
Robert (still not brother of Sir John), had been master of horse to Henry IV. Sir Hugh Waterton, another brother, held high offices of state.
Charles
Waterton (the Squire) was a descendant of William Waterton, Lord
of Waterton, who died in 1255. In 1435 John
Waterton (**
not John but Richard, see The Wrong Waterton below. ) married the heiress
of Sir William Ashenhull, and became Lord of Walton and Cawthorne
(a village near Barnsley).
Walton
(near Wakefield in the West Riding) formed part of the Honour of
Pontefract (see side panel), which was held by Ashenhold, a Saxon thane (see side panel). It then passed to his son Ailric in the reign of St. Edward
the Confessor (see side panel).
After
the Norman Conquest it was given by William I, The Conqueror, to
one of his supporters, Ilbert de Lacy. Ilbert granted it back again
to Ailric (a Saxon), father of Suein. Suein's son, Adam, was Lord
of Brierley, Cawthorne and Walton. Adam founded the priory at Monk
Bretton and left two daughters and co-heiresses, Amabil and Matilda.
Amabil had Walton and Cawthorne and became the wife of William de
Nevile.
William
and Amabil had one daughter and heiress, she married Thomas, the
son of Philip de Burgh. Walton and Cawthorne remained in the possession
of the de Burghs for seven generations. They then passed with the
co-heiress, Joan de Burgh, of Sir John de Burgh to Sir William Ashenhull,
whose heiress, Constance, conveyed it to John
Waterton ** in 1435 when they married.
"Thus
Mr Waterton was twenty-seventh Lord of Walton, and sixteenth from
John Waterton**, who acquired the lordship of Walton."
~~~
[** The wrong Waterton - but close! According to J.W.
Walker's account it was Richard de Waterton,
not John, who married Constance in 1435. Richard was the son of
John de Waterton, who was dead by the 5th November 1417. John had
married Katherine de Burgh, her sister Joan de Burgh married Sir
William Assenhull, Constance Assenhull was their daughter and Katherine
was her aunt. Richard died in 1479. (5).
It is this sequence that is supported by more recent research. (6)]
"Through
distinct sources, Charles Waterton traced his descent several times over
from St Matilda Queen of Germany, St Margaret of Scotland, St Humbert
of Savoy, St Louis of France, St Ferdinand of Castile, Wladimir the Great
of Russia and St Anne of Russia. Through his grandmother he was ninth
in descent from Sir Thomas More." Rev. J.G. Wood (1)
***
The Watertons suffered
because they adhered to the Roman Catholic faith, click
here to find out more about the Watertons, the Church and the State
in the words of Charles Waterton himself.
Footnotes
1.
Wanderings in South America, the North West of the United States and the
Antilles in the Years 1812, 1816, 1820 and 1824, Charles Waterton, edited
with additional material by the Rev. J.G. Wood, 1880. The account had
been "revised by a member of the house".
2. Pontefract Museum (http://www.wakefield.gov.uk).
3. The Dictionary of Heraldry, Feudal Coats of Arms and Pedigrees, Joseph Foster, Studeo Editions 1996.
4. General reference: The Chronicles of the Wars of the
Roses, edited by Elizabeth Hallam, Bramley Books 1996.
5.
The Burghs of Cambridgeshire and Yorkshire and the Watertons of Lincolnshire
and Yorkshire. J.W. Walker, OBE, FSA, The Journal of the Yorkshire Archaelogical
Society, 1931.
6. Research by David Alexander Richard Waterton-Anderson, 2004.
More information about David Waterton-Anderson and the Everingham connection.
7. Illustrated London News of 17th June 1865.
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Coat of Arms from Walton
Hal
~~~
Thane - a man granted land by the king or other superior noble for military
service. Ranks between a freeman and hereditary noble.
~~~
Sir Robert
Waterton - effigy in
Methley Church. (2)
~~~
Order
of the Garter. An order of knighthood, traditionally
founded by the Plantagenet King Edward III in 1348.
~~~
There
are two tales of how Richard II met his death in Pontefract
Castle. According to the Traison et Mort de Richard II he died
in a savage fight with Sir Peter Exton and seven men who had been sent
to kill him by Henry IV. In Thomas Walsingham's account, Richard II seeing
that all was lost, starved himself to death, dying on 14 February 1400.
(Walsingham was the last great chronicler of St Albans Benedictine Abbey,
he continued with his chronicle down to the death of Henry V in 1422.
~~~
The Honour of Pontefract
~~~
Hugh Waterton, bore this at the siege of Rouen in 1418. The coat
of arms is ascribed to Sir Robert Waterton.(3)
~~~
St Edward the
Confessor, also called Edward III, King of England c.1003 - 1066.
Lived for a long period in Normandy. He was childless, a fact which ultimately
led to the Norman Conquest. Founded a new Westminster Abbey. He was canonised
in 1161.
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