A BRIEF HISTORY OF EDMUND WATERTON, son of the Squire

Edmund Waterton (1830 - 1887). Knight of the Supreme Order of Christ; Knight of Malta; Papal Privy Chamberlain; Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.

He was born on 7th April 1830 at Walton Hall. His young mother, Anne, died just 21 days after the birth at the age of 18 years. She died of puerperal fever. Also known as childbed fever, puerperal fever claimed the lives of many women at childbirth - gentry as well as peasants. The infection - most commonly the bacteria staphylococcus and streptococcus - was often carried on the dirty hands and medical instruments of doctors and midwives.

Edmund was educated at Stonyhurst College from 1841 to 1850. Unlike his father, Edmund was not interested in the world of nature. He was a noted antiquary.

He assembled a collection of De Imitatione Christi. The collection now consists of 1,014 editions. The core collection, assembled by Edmund Waterton, was purchased by the Library of the British Museum in 1895. Other editions of the work have been added to this collection from elsewhere in the Library, or acquired in later years. For more information visit the British Library at http://www.bl.uk/.

1879 saw the publication of Edmund Waterton's Pietas Mariana Britannica. A History of English Devotion to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of God, with a Catalogue of Shrines, Sanctuaries, Offerings, Bequests, and Other Memorials of the Piety of Our Forefathers. This was the first and only edition of the book in this form. Modern reprints are available on eBay.co.uk and AbeBooks.co.uk at the time of writing.

He was also a collector of finger-rings, episcopal, posey and cardinal, etc. Several of his notes and essays, such as Dactyliotheca Watertoniana : a descriptive catalogue of the finger-rings in the collection of Mrs. Waterton [manuscript], on the subject are held at the The Victoria and Albert Museum - National Art Library.

He married twice:

20th August 1862 - Josephine Ennis, second daughter of Sir John Ennis, Bt. (baronet), of Ballinahown Court, Co. Westmeath, Ireland, by whom he had two sons and four daughters. Josephine died on Boxing Day, 26th December 1879. She is buried in the Waterton Chapel, Deeping Waterton. (3)

15th November 1881 - Ellen Mercer, only child of John and Ellen Mercer of Alston Hall near Preston, by whom he had two daughters. Ellen survived him by many years and died on 10th January 1909. She is buried in the Mercer Vault at Alston Lane, near Grimsargh. (3)

Click here for descendants of Edmund Waterton.

In 1876, Edmund Waterton was declared bankrupt. He was forced to sell Walton Hall to the Simpson family, whose soap works had done so much damage to Walton Park and the surrounding countryside. In 1879, Edmund purchased a house - Deeping Waterton Hall - in Market Deeping, Lincolnshire, which he viewed as having long established links with the Waterton family. The house later became known as the Old Manor House in the ownership of the Xaverian Brothers, although the separate chapel remained as Waterton property.

Edmund died on 22nd July 1887, at the early age of 57 years. He is buried in the Waterton Chapel at Deeping Waterton Hall.

~~~~

Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart, Edinburgh

The Holryrood Madonna, carved wood, probably late 16th century was the gift of Edmund Waterton in 1869, from an auction at the London house of the 4th Earl of Abercorn. Alleged to have once been in Holyrood Palace. Edmund bought it from a Peterborough dealer. Holy Rood is Scots for 'Holy Cross'. King David the First of Scots founded the Abbey in 1128. In due course a royal residence was established and eventually became today's Holyrood Palace. Read more about this church at http://www.rc.net/standed/sacredheart/index.html

1. Sandal Magna, a Yorkshire Parish and its People, Mary Ingham and Brenda Andrassy, 1978.
2. Charles Waterton, Traveller and Conservationist, Julia Blackburn, The Bodley Head, London, 1989.
3. Letters of Charles Waterton, edited with notes by R.A. Irwin, Rockliff, London, 1955.

A list of reference sources is contained on the Links page.