| Date |
Event |
Additional
Notes |
| 17th Century |
| 1602 |
Thomas
Waterton married Alice Slingsby, the daughter of Sir Henry Slingsby. |
|
1627
7th
March |
Mrs
Alice Waterton (Slingsby) died. She is buried in the Waterton Chapel,
Sandal Magna Church (St Helen's). Thomas married for a second time,
taking Bridget, widow of Charles Markham of Ollerton as his wife.
Bridget survived Thomas and saw her daughter Anne married to Robert
Waterton, eldest son of the Thomas who died in 1641. |
|
| 1641 |
Thomas
Waterton died, his third son Thomas inherited the Walton estates.
This Thomas married Alice Wetherby of Wintersett. |
|
1644
June |
In
1643 Parliament ordered Lords and Landowners to pay towards the expense
of war.
In 1644, Parliamentary troops enforcing this demand marched upon
Walton Hall, then the home of Anne (widow of Robert Waterton).
|
While they waited for an outcome to the siege, one soldier went to Walton
village to fetch a keg of beer. When he returned, an occupant of the Hall
fired a cannon ball from a small cannon or culverin at him and wounded him
in the thigh.
During the skirmish, one of Cromwell's soldiers fired a musket shot into
one of the doors of the Water Gate (then the entrance to the island).
CW maintained that Oliver Cromwell himself was involved in the attack, but
this seems unlikely. For many years a brass plaque commemorating the incident
was fixed to the Water Gate door, but it was removed in 1965 and is now
in the Wakefield Museum. (1, 2) See entry for 1790. |
| 1670 |
Thomas
Waterton married Catherine, daughter of Nicholas Fairfax of Ackton
(a few miles distant from Walton). It was an advantageous marriage and restored
the faily fortunes somewhat. |
Walton Hall had been abandoned and was in a
state of disrepair. With Catherine's dowry of £10,000, the Watertons
returned to the Hall and it was renovated around 1674. Thomas was active
in restoring the estate, building two water mills and coal mining. |
| 18th Century |
| 1704 |
Thomas
Waterton died aged 64 years. |
|
| 1716 |
Charles
Waterton (son of Thomas and grandfather of the Squire) was imprisoned
for a while in York Castle for failing to swear an oath of allegiance to
King George 1 (the Hanoverian). |
|
| 1725 |
Catherine
Waterton died aged 74 years. |
|
| 1731 |
After
the Reformation, the Watertons remained staunchly Catholic and were often
brought before the courts and fined in the 17th and 18th century as a result
of conflicts with the established order. In 1731 Charles Waterton (grandfather
of Squire CW) was in trouble for not discharging his obligation to repairing
the roof, walls, windows of the chancell of St Helens Church. |
|
| 1733 |
Charles
Waterton (Walton branch), grandfather of the squire,
married Mary Cressacre-More |
The More Connection
Mary
Cressacre-More was the youngest daughter of Christopher Cressacre-More.
Mary
More was the seventh in
descent from "Blessed Thomas, the martyred chancellor". (From
The Catholic Encyclopaedia). Find
out about Sir (Saint) Thomas More. |
| 1758 |
A
mystery - Eusebia Pickering, seemingly a 'wife' of Thomas Waterton
(Charles' father) arrived at the English Convent in Brugge (Bruges) in Flanders. |
|
|
|
|
| 1767 |
Thomas
Waterton inherited Walton Hall at the age of 29 years. He then proceeded
to demolish the Elizabethan building and erected the present mansion. He
left the Water Gate but replaced the stone bridge by the iron bridge that
is still in use. The Water Gate was left to crumble into the ruin that it
is today. The lake then occupied an area of about 30 acres (12.15 hectares).
(1 hectare = 100 acres or 10,000 square metres). |
|
1782
3rd
June |
Charles
Waterton (the Squire) born at Walton Hall. Charles's mother was a
granddaughter of Sir Henry Bedingfeld of Oxburgh, Norfolk. |
|
| 1790 |
Walton
Lake was dredged, and the iron culverin from the 1644 siege was found and
‘preserved’ at the gateway. Later the Squire, marked the dents caused by
cannon shot fired at the Water Gate's sturdy wooden doors. See entry for
1644, June. |
|
| 1792 |
CW
(aged 10 yrs) sent to Tudhoe School, Co. Durham. Not an enjoyable
time. No visits home. |
|
| 1796 |
CW
(aged 14 yrs) sent to Stonyhurst College, Lancashire. This was an enjoyable
time, Stonyhurst was more enlightened than Tudhoe. |
|
| 19th Century |
| 1801 |
Charles
Waterton completed his education at Stonyhurst; being a Catholic, a
university education was not then available to him in England. |
After
completing his studies, Charles Waterton habitually wore a blue swallow-tailed
coat with gilt buttons which resembled that worn at Stonyhurst when he
was a pupil there. In later years he visited Stonyhurst and maintained
his links with the college. He also kept a promise made to his schoolmaster
there, Father Clifford, that he would never drink wine or "spiritous
liquors". |
| 1802 |
Charles
Waterton spends year at Walton Hall. Took up foxhunting but was critical
of the activity. |
|
| 1802 |
Charles
Waterton (aged 20 yrs)set sail for Malaga in southern Spain |
|
| 1803 |
Malaga - outbreak of the "Black Vomit" (= Yellow Jack or Yellow Fever).
CW returned to England. |
|
1804
November |
CW
sailed to Demerara from Portsmouth, Hants, to manage the family plantation. |
|
| 1805 |
Thomas
Waterton dies and CW inherits family estates (aged 23 yrs). Returned
to Walton Hall. |
"England
expects that every man will do his duty." The French navy is defeated
off the coast of Spain at the Battle of Trafalgar (21/10/1805),
thus securing British supremacy at sea during the Naploeonic Wars. Admiral
Lord Horatio Nelson was fatally wounded in the hour of victory. His flagship,
HMS Victory was commanded by Captain Thomas Masterman Hardy. |
| 1807 |
CW
returned to Demerara. Now aged 25 yrs. |
|
| 1812 |
Anne
Mary Edmonstone born (later to become CW's wife, CW is now 30 yrs).
CW attended her Christening. |
|
1812
April |
CW
leaves the Demerara estates to start his First
Wandering. |
Demerara,
Essequibo & Portuguese Guiana (Brazil). |
1816 |
Second
Wandering |
Brazil,
Suriname (Dutch Guiana), British Guiana. |
1820 |
Third
Wandering |
Essequibo
and the capture of the cayman. |
|
Walton
Park - building of the
wall commences |
See
"Letters of Charles Waterton", ed. R.A. Irwin, 1955. |
1824 |
Fourth
Wandering |
United
States and the Antilles |
1825 |
First publication
of Wanderings in South America. |
|
|
Walton
Park - wall completed
at a cost of £9,000. |
See
"Letters of Charles Waterton", ed. R.A. Irwin, 1955. |
1826 |
Painting
of Charles Waterton astride cayman by Captain E. Jones |
|
1829 |
Catholic
Emancipation Act |
Catholic
Emancipation Act receives the Royal assent. Since the Reformation, Catholics
had been subject to restrictions covering property ownship, inheritance,
government employment and could not sit in Parliament. Daniel O'Connell
(1775 - 1847) campaigned for the right of Catholics to sit in the British
Parliament. He was elected MP for Clare in 1828, forcing the government
to concede Catholic emancipation (which was supported by the Duke of Wellington).
Later O'Connell, although wanting to break up the union with Britain,
lost the support of the more revolutionary Young Ireland group, a nationalist
group founded by Protestant radicals in 1840. |
1829
18th
May |
Charles
Waterton (47 yrs) married Anne
Mary Edmonstone (17 yrs) at Bruges at 5.30 am in English Convent.
See entry for 20/12/1829 |
|
1829
20th
December |
St. Helen's Church, Sandal Magna.
"Charles
Waterton married Anne Mary
Edmonstone of this parish, Spinster, alias his wife, were married
by licence (they previously being married 18th May at Bruges)". Although
the Catholic Emancipation Act was passed by Parliament in 1829 (which would
have recognised the marriage) it would have taken some months for the law
to become established and Anne Waterton was 6 months pregnant by now. Doubtless
the second marriage ceremony was thought necessary for legal reasons. (3).
See entry for 18/05/1829. |
Click image to enlarge
|
1830
7th
April |
Edmund
Waterton born to Charles and Anne. His
mother, died shortly afterwards. Edmund became a collector of antiquities.
He was as different to his father as chalk is to cheese. His collection
of historical rings is now in the Kensington Museum. He was fond of a fine
life and later became bankrupt and cost the Watertons their home in Walton. |
When
Anne Mary Waterton died, Charles Waterton was overwhelmed with grief and
could not bear to talk about her. He mentioned her once in writing: "In
1829 I became the happiest man in the world; but it pleased Heaven to convince
me that all felicity here below is no more than a mere illusive transitory
dream, and I bow submissive to its adorable decrees. |
1830
27th
April |
Anne
Waterton died in April 1830 at the age of 18 yrs., 21 days after the
birth of Edmund and is buried in the vault in St Helens, Sandal Magna. The
burial was without a service, doubtless at the request of CW; he was not
reconciled to the established order. Charles stayed by her side until she
died, he did not remarry. |
"I
am left with one fine boy, who 'looks up to me for light, and I trust
that I shall succeed in imparting it to him."
Elizabeth and Helen Edmonstone remained as part of the household at Walton
Hall until the death of the Squire. They did the housekeeping and acted
as mothers to their nephew. |
| 1830 |
A brief visit to Madeira |
Madeira
is the place where the wine of the same name originates. The wine is appreciated
for its full-bodied, rich and soft texture - a joy to taste. The island
of Madeira is volcanic, situated several hundred miles from Portugal in
the Atlantic Ocean. It was discovered by the Portuguese in 1419 and, as
it was heavily forested, they named it 'Madeira', the Portuguese word
for wood or timber. In 1807, a British Army garrison was stationed on
the island to thwart any invasion attempt by Napoleon. One John Blandy
was a member of that garrison, he returned in 1811 and established himself
in the wine trade. Blandy's Madeira is still produced today. Charles Waterton,
of course, was not known for imbibing wine. |
1852
14th
September |
|
Death
of Arthur Wellesley (1769 - 1852), the 1st Duke of Wellington
- the Iron Duke. Vanquisher of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of
Waterloo in 1815, with the Prussian general Blucher. Born in Dublin, prime
minister 1828 - 1830. Supporter of Catholic emancipation and persuaded
George IV to accept the bill of 1829. Supported repeal of the Corn Laws,
Commander-in-Chief of the British Army. |
1865
27th
May |
Charles
Waterton died. He had £585. 18s. 2d (£585.91) in the bank and the Hall was
heavily mortgaged. Even taking into account the value of the pound sterling
in those days, it was not a great deal of money. |
|
1865
3rd
June |
Charles
Waterton is buried in the grounds of Walton Park. |
|
| 1876 |
Edmund
Waterton is 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. Edmund moved to a house in Market Deeping,
Lincolnshire, which he viewed as having long established links with the
Waterton family. |
Click image to enlarge. |
1887
22nd
July |
Edmund
Waterton died (aged 57 yrs). |
|
References
1. Charles Waterton, 1782 - 1865, Traveller and Naturalist, Wakefield Museum
Exhibition Catalogue, 1982.
2. Wakefield, its History and People, JW Walker, 1939.
3. Sandal Magna, a Yorkshire Parish and its People, Mary Ingham and Brenda Andrassy,
1978.
|
Chronology Page 2
| ^ top | page 1 | |
This page is concerned with the Squire's branch of the family and his own chronology
