Inherited Craziness
A place to share all the nuts found on my family tree

Showing posts with label Saddler. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Saddler. Show all posts

Wednesday 20 September 2023

Henry Wilton and Mary Barton

This pub and hotel on North Street has been closed and boarded up for some years, with signs of abandoned or postponed building work. It is grade II listed, the oldest parts from the 15th century. Conflicting reports suggest it has since been demolished or converted into flats.

Back on the family pub crawl ... Two things listed in Pigot's Directory of Essex 1823 relate to another Henry Wilton. One is a listing as a saddler, the other, under Taverns and Public Houses, is for 'Henry Wilton, King's Head'[1]. This Henry Wilton is clearly not Henry Wilton (1809-1890), saddler, the elder brother of my 3x great-grandfather, Richard Wilton, because that Henry Wilton would have been merely 14 years old in 1823. We have to go back another generation: this is their uncle Henry, brother of Stephen Wilton

Henry Wilton, son of Richard Wilton and Mary Robinson, was baptised St Mary's Church, Sawston, Cambridgeshire on 30 Oct 1768. In 1783 he was apprenticed to Matthew Norris in Shelford, as a Collarmaker. Then on 20 Sep 1810, he married Mary Barton in Great Dunmow. Both were described as being "Of This Parish", so had been in the town since at least then. 

In 1841, Henry Wilton (73) Ind (Independant means?) and his wife Mary (61) were living alongside his nephew, Henry Wilton, saddler in the High Street, Great Dunmow. They were one side - of Geo. Saich, ostler (the census records don't provide any clues as to which hostelry), and his wife Charlotte (née Thorogood) - on the other was Robert Hockley, tailor and draper.

"Uncle" Henry Wilton died in 1846 J Quarter in DUNMOW UNION Volume 12 Page 49. He will have been 78.

In 1861, Mary Wilton (80) with birthplace given as Ruislip, Middlesex, was a Lodger in the High Street, Great Dunmow.

Mary Wilton died, at 81, on 8 Nov 1861 (1861 D Quarter in DUNMOW UNION Volume 04A Page 214). Probate was granted to John Barnard Grocer and Sole Executor. John Barnard (1799-1872), was a grocer (later also wine & spirit merchant) in the High Street, Great Dunmow. It's not known if there was any familial link or what the reason was for appointing him.

[1] Also listed in Pigot's Directory of Essex 1823 at the King's Head is William Cock, who was listed as the Licensee or Tavernkeeper from 1815 until at least 1829. It isn't clear what role Henry Wilton played in this business. 

Wednesday 9 August 2023

Henry Wilton and Sarah Staines and Ann Staines

St Peter, Colchester, Essex - East end
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © John Salmon - geograph.org.uk/p/1862874

Henry Wilton, forth child and eldest son of Stephen Wilton and Elizabeth Hankin, married Sarah Staines, daughter of Thomas Staines and Sally Hockley on 9 Aug 1838 at St Peter's Church, Colchester, Essex.

Henry Wilton and Sarah Staines had at least eight children:
  1. Henry Staines Wilton b. S Quarter in DUNMOW UNION Volume 12 Page 70, bap. 27 Sep 1840 at St Giles' Church, Mountnessing
  2. Stephen Thomas Wilton b. 1841 D Quarter in DUNMOW UNION Vol 12 Page 68, bap. 29 May 1842 at St Giles, Mountnessing
  3. Maria Wilton b. 19 Dec 1843 (reg. 1844  M Quarter in DUNMOW Vol 12 Page 76), bap. 24 Mar 1844 at St Giles', Mountnessing
  4. Mary Ann Wilton b. 1846 M Quarter in DUNMOW UNION Volume 12 Page 82, bap. 29 Oct 1848 at St Giles's Church, Mountnessing. Died at 27 in 1873 J Quarter in DUNMOW UNION Volume 04A Page 239.
  5. Still Born Child of Henry and Sarah Wilton buried 7 Jan 1850
  6. William Hankin Wilton b. 1851 M Quarter in DUNMOW UNION Volume 12  Page 93 (at home on 1871 Census, nothing since)
  7. Still Born buried 24 Jul 1854 (Dissenters)
  8. Sarah Wilton b. 1856 S Quarter in DUNMOW UNION Volume 04A Page 299. Died 1856 S Quarter in DUNMOW UNION Volume 04A Page 207. As 'Infant Wilton' buried 10 Jul 1856 (Dissenters)
These "Dissenters" or Non-Conformist Burials are listed at the Protestant Dissenters Burial Ground, which I assume to mean of the Independent Meeting House (Quaker Meeting House) in New Street, Great Dunmow. 

In 1841, Henry Wilton (25) Saddler, Sarah Wilton (20), Henry [Staines] Wilton (10 months); Henry Prior (14) Apprentice Tailor; Henry Joice (17) Apprentice Saddler and Charlotte Lodge (14) Female Servant, were in the High Street, Great Dunmow, located next door to Henry's uncle Henry Wilton and his wife, Mary Barton, who, in turn, were next door to George Saich (25) Ostler (and his wife, Charlotte Thorogood). The other side of them was John Prior (55) Basket Maker, father-in-law of Henry's sister Mary

White's Directory of Essex 1848, also lists Henry Wilton as a saddler in the High Street, Great Dunmow (as had been his uncle Henry).

In 1861, Henry Wilton (50), Saddler; Sarah Wilton (42), Stephen Wilton (19) Cabinet maker; Mary Ann Wilton (15), William Wilton (10) and apprentices; Charles Gandey (18) and Charles Knight (14) were still in High Street, Great Dunmow. Henry Staines Wilton (20) was staying with his grandparents, Thomas Staines and Sally Hockley in Ingatestone, Chelmsford.

In 1871, Henry Wilton (62) Sadler employing 1 man and 1 boy was still in the High Street, Great Dunmow with Sarah Wilton (54), Stephen Thomas Wilton (29) Cabinet maker; Mary Ann Wilton (25), William H Wilton (20) and Edith Mary Fuller (6) Granddaughter (Daughter of Maria Wilton). 

Sarah Wilton died, aged 56, 1872 J Qtr in DUNMOW Vol 04A Page 226.

It's what happens next that's interesting, because the widowed Henry Wilton then married Ann Staines in the 3rd quarter of 1873, in Chelmsford

Without ordering the actual marriage certificate, I cannot be sure of the venue for this marriage, but it was presumably openly in Ann's own parish, because her parents, Thomas Staines and Sally Hockley, had moved to Lord Peter Alms Houses, Stone Field, Ingatestone, Chelmsford by 1861. As you may have deduced, Ann Staines (bap. 31 Mar 1829 in at St Giles, Mountnessing) was the younger sister of Henry's deceased wife, Sarah Staines. And marrying the sister of a deceased wife was illegal in Victorian England and this remained the case until the Deceased Wife's Sister's Marriage Act 1907.

In England the list of forbidden marriages was drawn up by the Church of England in 1560 and from then a marriage between a widower and his wife’s sister was valid but voidable - on the grounds of a passage in Leviticus, which suggested that such a relationship was incestuous (the same biblical extract Henry VIII had used to cast doubt on his marriage to Catherine of Aragon).

However, it was not explicitly illegal until the passing of the Marriage Act in 1835. The 1835 bill said that the marriages that had already happened could no longer be voided, but from then on, "such marriages could no longer take place in the United Kingdom and colonies at all". It went on to say that these marriages would have to take place abroad, a solution available only to the rich. Au contraire, Henry and Ann's marriage did take place in England, in 1873, and thus, was not lawful. When the vicar came to the bit about "any lawful impediment", either they didn't know, or everybody kept schtum.

In 1881, Henry Wilton (69) Saddler, and his new wife, Annie Wilton (52), with Henry Fuller (14) Grandson; Charles Fuller (10) Grandson (both sons of Charles William Fuller and Maria Wilton); Martha Palmer (52) Boarder [older sister of Henry Staines Wilton's wife, Amelia Palmer) and Mary Smith (14) General Servant from Good Easter, were living in High Street, Great Dunmow, where Henry had his business for many years.

Henry Wilton died on 9 May 1890, leaving £180 (£23,000 in 2020) to his son, Henry Staines Wilton.

In 1891, Ann Wilton (62) Living On Own Means, Widowed, was living in New Street, Great Dunmow and still boarding with her was Martha Palmer (63). 

In 1901, Ann Wilton (72) and Martha Palmer (72) were back living in the High Street, Great Dunmow and they had one General Domestic Servant looking after them, Emily E Lee (15) from Boston, Lincolnshire.

In 1911, Ann Wilton (82) was still in Great Dunmow with one General Domestic Servant, May Bird (19). (Martha Palmer had died in 1909.)

In 1921, Ann Wilton (92) was still in the High Street, Dunmow, Great Dunmow, Essex, still employing May Bird (29) Domestic Servant.

Ann Wilton, widow, died at 93, on 13 Apr 1922, leaving £757 19s 10d (worth £43,299 in 2020), also to Henry Staines Wilton, who was, of course, both her nephew and step-son (although, presumably, they'd not remained in contact, or she'd have known that he'd pre-deceased her in 1915.)

Friday 4 August 2023

Champion & Wilton Saddlers and Harness Makers

Bridge Street, Bishop's Stortford
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Bill Boaden - geograph.org.uk/p/6410237

Henry Staines Wilton, (bap. 27 Sep 1840 at St Giles, Mountnessing), son of Henry Wilton and Sarah Staines, Harness Maker, married Amelia Palmer, daughter of William Palmer and Henrietta Crabb of Bridge Street, Bishop's Stortford at St Michael, Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, on 4 Aug 1868. Witnesses were the bride's father, William Palmer, the bridegroom's parents, Henry and Sarah Wilton and Martha Palmer, the bride's older sister.

This looks like a 'beneficial match' for Henry, because Amelia's Great Western Railway shares passed to her husband on their marriage. This is, of course, before the Married Women's Property Act 1882, when anything a woman owned, became her husband's by default, effectively becoming dowry.

Henry Staines Wilton was my 1st cousin, four times removed. 

Henry Staines Wilton and Amelia Palmer had five children:
  1. William Palmer Wilton b. 19 Sep 1869, bap. 28 Nov 1869 at St Michael's, Bishop's Stortford
  2. Mary Henrietta Wilton, bap. 30 Apr 1871 in Bishop's Stortford
  3. Olive Martha Wilton b. 25 Dec 1872, bap. 28 Feb 1873 in Bishop's Stortford. (Olive Martha Wilton, artist, died, aged 45, on 14 Apr 1918 in Ringwood, Hampshire. She is not buried with the family.)
  4. John Staines Wilton bap. 24 Apr 1874 in Bishop's Stortford. (John Staines Wilton didn't marry either. He died on 6 May 1936.)
  5. Margaret Staines Wilton b. 1877 in the district of St. George Hanover Square. (Margaret also remained single. She was buried, on 31 Dec 1957, in Hampstead Cemetery, with her parents and brothers.)
In 1861, Henry Staines Wilton (20) had been staying with his grandparents, Thomas Staines and Sally Hockley at Lord Peters (Sir William Petre) Alms Houses, Stone Field, Ingatestone, Chelmsford. He then set up business next door to his future father-in-law, in Bridge Street, Bishop's Stortford.

By 1871, Henry Staines Wilton (30), Saddler and Harness Maker, Employing 2 men, 2 apprentices and 1 boy in Bridge Street, Bishop's Stortford; Amelia Wilton (29), William P Wilton (1), Mary H Wilton (0). The household was completed with William Thorman (15) Saddler Apprentice; Martha Cornell (24) General Servant and Elizabeth Kitchener (16) Nurse.

As you can see from the location of the birth of their fifth child in 1877 (the same year that Amelia's father died in Bishop's Stortford), they had moved into London. This was because, in 1875, Henry Staines Wilton had bought into an established saddlery company in Oxford Street and became associated with Henry Champion, and from the merger of the names of its two owners, the Champion & Wilton brand officially appeared. [Source]

"Champion and Wilton [its predecessors, clearly] were founded in 1780 and had premises in Oxford Street, opposite Selfridges, in London’s West End. At one time they employed over one hundred saddlers making saddles, harness and other saddlery items and became, as holders of the Royal Warrant, the most highly respected firm in the country and I don’t doubt that many a stately home will still have a Champion and Wilton saddle tucked away somewhere in their tack room." - Keith Jenkin, SMSQF of Minster Saddlery

In The London Gazette of 4 January 1878, there was a notice regarding a Patent application: Henry Staines Wilton, of Bishop's Stortford, in the county of Herts, Saddler, for an invention of "improvements in the construction of saddles and saddle girths."—Dated 24th December, 1874. Then in 1879: 

In addition to the quality of the product, the main peculiarity that distinguished the saddles of this brand, owed much to the invention made in 1879 by Henry Wilton, who patented the well-known safety system, still in use and much appreciated today, which represented a technical revolution. 

In their time, it is said that Champion & Wilton held Royal Warrants to Queen Victoria, King Edward VII, King George V, King George VI, Queen Elizabeth II, and the Duke of Edinburgh, as well as to the German Emperor, Queen Maud of Norway and Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands. 

A neighbouring firm of saddlers, Samuel Blackwell, also long-established, was taken over by Champion & Wilton in the 1880s. 

At the time of daughter, Mary Henrietta Wilton's marriage to Augustus Percival Bartley (of the equally top-notch Bartley & Sons, Military and Hunting Bootmakers, of 493, Oxford Street), on 11 Aug 1894, at St Michael's Church, Bray, Berkshire, the Wilton family resided at the rather stately Stafferton Lodge, Braywick Road, Maidenhead

In 1891, the family were living at Braywick, High Town Road, Bray, Cookham, Berkshire with Henry S Wilton (50) Sadler & Harness Maker; Amelia Wilton (49), Olive Martha Wilton (18), John S Wilton (17) Saddlers Apprentice; Margaret Wilton (14), along with Sarah Asbridge (28) Cook from Margaret Roding and Kate Maydwell (23) Housemaid from Hornchurch, Essex. William P Wilton (21) Sadler, was that year [so far unaccountably] a Visitor in a household in Wanstead, Essex, along with three female servants. 

Fake news is not a new thing: Apparently, according to this document (PDF), in Vol IV No 5 of 'Saddlery and Harness' November 1894, a spurious claim appears, "p.101 Notable Members of the Trade: Mr H S Wilton (Champion and Wilton) Owner of Champion and Wilton. At 457/459 Oxford Street. One of the leading West End saddlery firms. Made Queen Victoria's first saddle when HSW was only 19 years old, some 63 years ago." [i.e. 1831] Complete and utter horse poop, of course, like so many family stories, and you have to laugh, as he wasn't even born until 1840! My feeling is the Oxford Street company that later became Champion & Wilton probably did make Queen Victoria's first saddle. It was Henry Staines Wilton's personal involvement that got tacked (pun intended) on as an embellishment to aggrandize himself.

In 1901, the family had moved back into town to 29, St Johns Wood Park, in the affluent community of Hampstead, where we find Henry S Wilton (60) Sadler & Harness Maker; Amelia Wilton (59), William P Wilton (31) Sadler & Harness Maker; Olive M Wilton (28), John S Wilton (27) Sadler & Harness Maker; Margaret S Wilton (24), along with Mary J Howlett (23) Cook from Norfolk and Annie Fosbury (21) Housemaid, from Maidenhead.

In 1911, still at 29, St Johns Wood Park, Hampstead, were Henry Staines Wilton (70) Sadler & Harness Maker; Amelia Wilton (69), Olive Martha Wilton (37) Artist; John Staines Wilton (36) Sadler & Harness Maker; Margaret Wilton (33) attended by three servants: Emma Fosbury (61) Widow, Cook Housekeeper; Ellen Gorey (37) Parlourmaid and Alice Fordham (24) Housemaid. The original census schedule also confirms that the couple had been married for 43 years and had five children, all then still living.

The Rebuilding of Oxford Street

"Nos. 453–459 (odd) Oxford Street and Nos. 22 and 23 North Audley Street, a small but elegant set of shops with flats over, were designed by Herbert Read and Robert Falconer Macdonald and built by Holloway Brothers in 1900–2 (Plate 46b). The client was E. H. Wilton of Champion and Wilton, saddlers, of Nos. 457 and 459 Oxford Street. (There was nobody with the initials  E. H. Wilton, so I assume this is H. S. Wilton and an error.) The building had three storeys towards North Audley Street and five on to Oxford Street. The ground floor was of Doulting stone, the upper storeys of red brick with stone dressings, and the style a picturesque and effective Arts and Crafts treatment." This tells us where the Champion and Wilton premises were, on the diagonally opposite corner to where Selfridges was later built. The building is long gone and replaced, with currently, a branch of Zara on that corner

Henry Staines Wilton died on 31 May 1915 and his funeral took place on Thursday 3 Jun 1915. He is interred in Hampstead Cemetery (Camden) grave reference WE/222. He left his fortune to his two sons, William Palmer Wilton and John Staines Wilton, saddlers, and his son-in-law, Augustus Percival Bartley, bootmaker. The Probate record shows that he left £57,256 11s 4d, which is worth just shy of six million pounds today (£5,925,591 in 2020).

Amelia Wilton died four years later, aged 77 and was buried, on 17 Dec 1919, in Hampstead Cemetery, along with her late husband. 

Thursday 13 May 2021

William Palmer Wilton and Dorothy Agnes Dickins

Fitzjohn's Avenue, Hampstead
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Derek Harper - geograph.org.uk/p/1916588

William Palmer Wilton (b. 19 Sep 1869), son of Henry Staines Wilton and Amelia Palmer, married at 40 (in quite some style), to Dorothy Agnes Dickins, then 25, daughter of Henry Percy Tavener Dickins and Charlotte Rebecca Fase, at the church of St Paul, Hampstead, on Saturday, 30 Apr 1910.

Major Henry Percy Tavener Dickins VD Victoria Rifles was a wine and spirit merchant in Philpot Lane, in partnership with his brother Wyndham. This family was the Dickins known for the department store Dickins & Jones.

The Hampsted News of Thursday, 5 May 1910 reported on the Marriage of Miss D. A. Dickins and Mr W. P. Wilton: A very large congregation assembled at St Paul's Church, Avenue Road, on Saturday, on the occasion of the marriage of Miss Dorothy Agnes Dickins, daughter of Mr H. P. T. Dickins, of "Atherstone", Eton Avenue, and Mr William Palmer Wilton, elder son of Mr  H. S. Wilton of "Cotswold House", St John's Wood Park.
        The chancel of the church was handsomely decorated with giant palms and white flowers, and during the assembling of the guests an organ recital was given by Mr E. G. Croager.
        The Service was conducted by the Rt. Rev. Bishop of British Honduras, assisted by the Ven. G. A. Ford (Vicar), and the Rev. A. Congreve-Pridgeon, who with the choir awaited the bridal party at the west door.
        The bride, who was given away by her father, wore an elegant gown of ivory white satin draped with ninon and trimmed with silver and silk embroidery, while the boddice was decorated with Brussels applique. Her veil of the same lace was arranged over a spray of orange blossoms, and she carried a bouquet of lilies of the valley and white heather. Eight bridesmaids - the Misses O & M Wilton [Olive and Margaret - bridegroom's sisters]; B. Beozley, V. Hall, B. Thompson, Esther Rosamond, Molly Bartley [bridegroom's niece] and Eileen Norris - were in attendance. The four elder maids were attired in gowns of white satin, draped with ninon with silver trimming and large silver roses, and large mauve hats veiled with stretched chiffon, trimmed with pale pink roses, and finished with long mauve velvet ribbon tied in a knot at the left side. They carried mauve silk sun-shades, with bouquets of pink roses attached to the handles. The four children wore white muslin dresses, and silver and white lace caps finished with pink chiffon rosette. They carried mauve sticks mounted with pink roses. 
        Mrs H. F. Dickins [1] was attired in a handsome gown of Irish lace mounted with white satin draped with moule ninon and wore a toque of Irish lace trimmed with moule and gold embroidery, and a plume and white feather. She carried a bouquet of roses.
        The bridegroom was accompanied by his brother, Mr J. S. Wilton, who performed the duties of best man.
        The service was fully choral, and included the hymns "The Voice that breathed o'er Eden" (sung in procession), and "Now thank we all our God". An anthem was sung during the signing of the registers.
        Subsequently a reception was held at "Atherstone", and later the bride and bridegroom left Hampstead en route for the South of England, where the honeymoon is being spent."

[1] Mrs H. F. Dickins was the bride's father's step-mother, second wife of Henry Francis Dickens, the former Agnes Haines Fase, the bride's mother's sister. She was the bride's aunt AND her step-grandmother and, as the bride's mother had died in 1902, we can assume she was standing in for her.

William and Dorothy had three daughters, all born in Hampstead: 

  1. Frances Mary Wilton b. 31 Aug 1911 D Quarter Vol 01A Page 984 
  2. Agnes Joan Wilton b. 1916 M Quarter Volume 01A Page 963 
  3. Helen Margaret Wilton b. 1919 J Quarter Volume 01A Page 724 
In 1911, living at 117 Fellows Road, Hampstead, London, were William Palmer Wilton (41) Saddler & Harness maker, and Dorothy Agnes Wilton (26), employing two servants to look after them: Elizabeth Anne Crouch (35), Cook General Domestic and Ellen Friend (29), House Parlourmaid.

William P Wilton inherited Champion & Wilton on his father's death in 1915.

In 1921, at 18 Fitzjohn's Avenue, Belsize Park were William Palmer Wilton (52) Sadler & Harness Maker, Employer, with his place of work listed as 457, 459 Oxford St, London; Dorothy Agnes Wilton (36), Frances Mary Wilton (9), Agnes Joan Wilton (5), Helen Margaret Wilton (2) and five servants: Lucy Esther Same (40) Nurse; Elizabeth Ann Crouch (46), Agnes Roe Jack (18), Florence May Bass (21) and Alice Rowsell (20). Other than the nurse, William hasn't bothered to list what jobs each of them performed, but I would guess that Elizabeth Ann Crouch was still Cook and the rest were housemaids.

In 1939, still at 18 Fitzjohn's Avenue, Belsize Park, William P and Dorothy A Wilton were reduced to three staff: Florence M Kemcock, Domestic Cook; Leticia M Labrook, Housemaid and Eilan M Brown, Housemaid.

William Palmer Wilton died at the end of 1957 D Quarter in HAMMERSMITH Volume 05C Page 955, at the age of 88. He was buried, on 3 Jan 1958, in the family plot at Hampstead Cemetery, along with his parents, his brother John and sister Margaret. On his death, Major William Palmer Wilton left the company, Champion & Wilton, to his shop manager Reginald Arkell.

Amusing comment here: "In the early 1950s I met William Wilton who was pretty old then and died soon after. He told me his shop was on Oxford Street and that he lived in Hampstead. From the top floor of his shop he told me that he could see his home “until that man Selfridge built in the way”."

Dorothy Agnes Wilton died in 1965, aged 81.

William and Dorothy's Daughters

Records show that Frances Mary Wilton (42) and Agnes Joan Wilton (37), embarked in Southampton at the end of July 1953 and arrived in Quebec on 4 Aug 1953, aboard the T.S.S. Columbia and then crossed the border into the United States. They gave the address - presumably of where they were going to be staying - as 1725 Orrington Avenue, Evanston, IL.

Frances Mary Wilton died in August 1986, aged 75 and Agnes Joan Wilton died, in 2014 at the grand old age of 98, both in London. Neither married.

Helen Margaret Wilton, married in Hampstead, in 1954 to Kenneth Graeme Todd (b. 1909). Records suggest that they had two children (born in 1957 and 1960). Kenneth Graeme Todd died, in Surrey in 1994. Helen Margaret Todd died in 2017, in Exeter, Devon. Like her sister, she will have been 98.