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, he was not interested in the world of nature. Sadly, Charles Waterton's good work was not carried on by his son; Edmund held shooting parties in the park to help pay off his debts.

On the death of the Charles Waterton, the effects his 'mismanagement of money, in any and every form' (4) and his 'apparent recklessness in the matters of land purchase' (7) became apparent and Edmund became financially embarrassed.

Edmund's stewardship of Walton Hall was fairly brief, in 1876, he was declared bankrupt. After 14 generations of Watertons living in it, Walton Hall was sold in 1877 to the chemical and soap works owner, Edward Simpson (1843 - 1914), son of Edward Thornhill Simpson, the old adversary of Charles Waterton. However, the Simpsons were unable to take possession of the hall because it had been leased to Edward Hailstone.

Having won the Soap House Battle, the Watertons lost the war with their soap manufacturing adversaries. The sale was made in 1877 for a huge £114,000. For the relative value of the sale price in 2010 click here. The value reflected the presence of coal reserves beneath the estate but, the coal was much broken and the two coal mines proposed failed. Had they been successful, Walton would have become a large mining village.

For a while, at least, Edmund was in some affluence. In 1879, he 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.

Edmund was a noted antiquary and 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/.

Collector of Rings
He was 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.

Edmund's collection of rings is mentioned in the Illustrated London News 17 Jan 1863 - click picture above to enlarge.

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.

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

The Wakefield Cross. All that is left of the original cross, that is the shaft reaching from the base to the crosspiece, is now in the museum of St. Mary's Abbey in York. It was erected in the churchyard of Wakefield after the conquest of Deira [5] by the Norseman, probably about the year A.D. 940. The cross remained standing until the Reformation, but in an age of religious intolerance and unreasoned prejudice, it suffered grevous mutilation. Much later, in 1862, what was left of it was discovered serving as a doorstep in a shop in Wakefield, whence it was rescued by Mr. Edmund Waterton, and in 1870 removed to York. This replica was presented in 1933 to Wakefield Cathedral by member of Wakefield Historical Society [6].

In his book (4) Richard Hobson recounts how the cross was rescued from its ignoble use. Describing a walk through Walton Park, the good doctor writes:
"Passing along an avenue in the wood ....... you come rather suddenly to a termination of this avenue, where the road bifurcates. ...... This is the spot where the road divides into two parts, one path slightly diverging to the left, towards the fish-trap reservoir, whilst the other, turning at right angles, leads to the lovely and charming grotto.
Here, at this junction of the roads, you come to an ancient stone cross, meriting observation. This curious remnant of Saxon art was, some time ago, accidentally discovered in the neighbouring town of Wakefield, where it had, from time immemorial, been in constant use, having formed an humble door step, in one of the ancient houses in that town once called 'merry Wakefield'. No one appeared to be able to afford any information how this cross came to be put to such ignoble use. After many applications, possession was at length obtained of this beautiful specimen of the old Saxon crosses, now so extremely rare in England."

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