Henry Staines Wilton (b. 14 Aug 1840 in
Great Dunmow, Essex), son of
Henry Wilton and Sarah Staines, Harness Maker, married
Amelia Palmer (bap. 15 Oct 1841 in
Bishop's Stortford), 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 him on their marriage. (This was before the
Married Women's Property Act 1882).
Henry Staines Wilton and Amelia Palmer had five children:
- William Palmer Wilton b. 19 Sep 1869 (1869 D Quarter in THE BISHOP STORTFORD UNION Volume 03A Page 265), bap. 28 Nov 1869 at St Michael's, Bishop's Stortford. The Essex Herald of 28 Sep 1869 announced the birth, "WILTON: 19th inst, at Bridge Street, Bishop's Storford, the wife of Henry Staines Wilton, of a son."
- Mary Henrietta Wilton b. 8 Feb 1871 (1871 M Quarter in OF THE BISHOP STORTFORD UNION Volume 03A Page 282), bap. 30 Apr 1871 in Bishop's Stortford. Her birth was announced in the press.
- Olive Martha Wilton b. 25 Dec 1872 (1873 M Quarter in BISHOP'S STORTFORD Volume 03A Page 295), bap. 28 Feb 1873 in Bishop's Stortford. (Olive Martha Wilton, artist, died, aged 45, on 14 Apr 1918 in Ringwood, Hampshire. Curiously, she's not buried with the family.)
- John Staines Wilton b. 17 Feb 1874 (1874 M Qtr in BISHOPS STORTFORD Vol 03A Page 295), bap. 24 Apr 1874 in Bishop's Stortford. (Died 6 May 1936 (1936 J Qtr in WESTMINSTER Vol 01A Page 521), at 62, buried on 11 May 1936 at Hampstead Cemetery.)
- Margaret Staines Wilton b. 22 Dec 1876 (1877 M Quarter in SAINT GEORGE HANOVER SQUARE Volume 01A Page 365). (Died aged 81 in 1957 D Quarter in CHAPEL EN LE FRITH Volume 10A Page 932. She was buried, on 31 Dec 1957, in Hampstead Cemetery.)
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.
In 1875, Henry Staines Wilton bought into an established saddlery company in
Oxford Street and became associated with Henry Champion, and from the merger, the
Champion & Wilton brand officially appeared. [
Source]
Champion & Wilton Saddlers and Harness Makers by Royal Appointment
Champion & Wilton were the successors to two old-established firms of Oxford Street saddlers. One started out under the name of Matthew Wilson, in South Molton Street, moved around 1806 to Oxford Street, and became successively Wilson, Wilkinson & Kidd, then Wilkinson, Champion & Frewer and finally Champion & Wilton. Neighbouring saddlers, Samuel Blackwell, also long-established, was taken over by Champion & Wilton in the 1880s.
"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 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.
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. |
This was but one of many Patents that Henry Staines Wilton applied for, including: "An Improvement in Side Saddles" in 1893; for "Improvements in and connected with Saddle Bars", in 1895; "Improvements in Trace and Pole Chain Attachments" in 1896; "Improvements in the Heads or Pommels of Side Saddles" in 1903 and "An Improved Machine for Centrally Punching and Spacing Holes in Leather Straps, and for like purposes" in 1905, are those I can find records for. The first was just in his name, the rest were applied for by Henry Staines Wilton in conjunction with Benjamin Samuel Weston.
Not found on the 1881 Census, the Hertford Mercury of 15 Oct 1881, reported on "DAMAGING A WALNUT TREE. Samuel Cowland, John Curtis, John Bush and Arthur Shorter, all young men of Bishop's Stortford, were charged with maliciously breaking part of a walnut tree, growing on enclosed land at Whitehall Farm, Bishop's Stortford, the property of Mr Henry Staines Wilton ..." Of course, owning the farm doesn't mean he lived there.
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.
At the time of their daughter Mary Henrietta Wilton's marriage to Augustus Percival Bartley (of Bartley & Sons, Military and Hunting Bootmakers, of 493, Oxford Street), on 11 Aug 1894, at St Michael's Church, Bray, Berkshire, their address was then stately Stafferton Lodge, Braywick Road, Maidenhead.
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 (74) died on 31 May 1915 (1915 J Quarter in HAMPSTEAD Volume 01A Page 819) 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 Henry Staines Wilton left £57,256 11s 4d, which is now worth over seven million pounds (
£7,376,323 in 2024).
Hampstead News of 10 Jun 1915, reported on the:
Death of Mr H Staines Wilton
The funeral of Mr H Staines Wilton, of 18 Fitzjohn's Avenue, took place on Thursday morning at
St Paul's Church, Avenue Road. The deceased gentleman, who was much respected, had long been a resident in the neighbourhood and a member of St Paul's Church, where he was a
sidesman and a generous supporter of the church. He had been in failing health, but was in church on Sunday morning and died the following day. The service was conducted by the Vicar (
Rev W H T N Rainey) and the Rev P B Phelps, who together with the choir met the cortege at the entrance gate to the church.
Psalm 39 was chanted, and the hymn "
Blessed are the pure in heart" was sung during the service, and as the coffin was carried from the church, preceded by the clergy and choir, the "
Nunc Dimittis"
was sung. The coffin, upon which rested a few floral tributes, was of polished oak with brass fitting and plate, which was inscribed "Henry Staines Wilton, born 14th August, 1840; died 31st May, 1915." The immediate mourners at the church were the widow and family, but a large congregation included
Mr Boyton MP, the Rev W H Wilkins (a former curate), the staff and employees from 457 & 459 Oxford Street, and the household servants. The coffin was conveyed in an open car, and was immediately followed by the deceased gentleman's carriage filled with numerous and beautiful floral tributes. The interment was made at Hampstead Cemetery, where the service at the graveside was concluded by the Vicar. The funeral arrangements were carried out by
Messrs J Nodes & Co (M Nodes Lello) of 193 High Road, Kilburn; 23 Church Street, Grove End Road, etc.
Amelia Wilton died four years later, aged 77 (1919 D Quarter in PADDINGTON Volume 01A Page 77), and was buried, on 17 Dec 1919, in
Hampstead Cemetery, along with her late husband.
Neither Olive, John, nor Margaret ever married. I can find neither John, nor Margaret in 1921, however, in 1939, Margaret S Wilton (b. 22 Dec 1876) Single Female of Private Means, was at
Lilybank Hydro,
Chesterfield Road, Darley Dale,
Matlock, Derbyshire (
the last Hydro in Matlock to close in 1962). Described in the 1930's, "The establishment is not exclusively a sanatorium; it affords accommodation to families and others who desire to spend a holiday amidst the beautiful scenery of the English Switzerland and it is also a delightful winter resort for those delicate individuals who dread the severities of our English climate." As Margaret also died in Derbyshire, in 1957, we may reasonably assume she was using Lilybank as a residential care home.
