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 (b. 21 Jul 1884 in Hampstead), daughter of Henry Percy Tavener Dickins and Charlotte Rebecca Fase, a 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 on 25 Oct 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 they had two children (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.

Stephen Wilton and Elizabeth Hankin

St Mary Ashwell - Chancel
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © John Salmon - geograph.org.uk/p/2474397

Stephen Wilton (bap. 25 Dec 1777 in Sawston, Cambridgeshire), Bachelor, son of Richard Wilton and Mary Robinson, married Elizabeth Hankin (bap. 28 Aug 1777 in Royston, Hertfordshire), Spinster, daughter of Robert Hankin and Elizabeth Edwards, both 'of the parish' of St Mary the Virgin, Ashwell, Hertfordshire on 24 Mar 1803. Both appear to have signed their own names. One of the witnesses was an Elizabeth Abbot.

Stephen and Elizabeth had nine children, the first six baptised in Royston: 

1. Mary Wilton b. 1804, bap. 25 Feb 1807 
2. Elizabeth Wilton b. 1805, bap. 25 Feb 1807
3. Martha Wilton bap. 25 Feb 1807 
4. Henry Wilton bap. 15 Jan 1809
5. Richard Wilton bap. 20 Mar 1811
6. Ellenor Hannah Wilton b. 5 Aug 1812, bap. 11 Jan 1829
7. Joseph Wilton b. 1815
8. Ann Wilton b. 1817
9. Sarah Wilton b. 1819

In 1792, at the age of 15, Stephen Wilton had been apprenticed to William Haggis in Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire, as a Collarmaker. On Ellenor's baptism, Stephen's occupation is listed as Harness Maker (trade also carried on by his sons Henry and Richard). Originally, I'd assumed a Collarmaker had meant he was making collars for men's shirts, but it appears this was actually leather collars for horses. "Historically there were three separate trades: saddlery, collar making and harness making. There are two types of collars: heavy horse collars and driving collars. However, today the demand dictates that collar making is done as a complete service with harness making." [Horse Collar Making] (Draught Harness and Horse Collar Making). On his second marriage in 1873, son Henry Wilton describes his father as Stephen Wilton, Deceased, Sadler (sic), which now makes perfect sense with the leather-working traditions in Sawston, Cambridgeshire and his sons' trades.

Stephen Wilton died, at 62, in 1839 M Quarter in ROYSTON AND BUNTINGFORD Volume 06 Page 389.

In 1841, Elizabeth Wilton (60) was living at Lewers Cottages, Royston with Ellen Wilton (22), Ann Wilton (20) and a Mary Whitechurch (16), all Dressmakers. Ellen will actually have been 29, but when unmarried daughters are beyond 'one and twenty', you probably won't tell the whole truth. :)

There is a record of a death of an Elizabeth Wilton of the right age (69) on 10 Sep 1846 (1846 S Quarter in DUNMOW UNION Volume 12 Page 61) and non-conformist burial on 17 Sep 1846 in Great Dunmow.

Nazareth Gardens, Peckham Rye
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © David Anstiss - geograph.org.uk/p/2620932
In 1878 Gordon Road Workhouse was built in the grounds of Nazareth House

Ann Wilton despite never marrying, had two children: 

1. Stephen Wilton b. 1848 J Quarter in SAINT GEORGE THE MARTYR SOUTHWARK Volume 04 Page 461
2. Martha Wilton b. 1860 J Quarter in CAMBERWELL Vol 01D Page 469

In 1851, Ann Wilton (34) Visitor and Stephen Wilton (3) Nephew, were staying with her brother-in-law and younger sister, Thomas and Sarah Clark, at South Place, Saint Giles Camberwell, Camberwell, London.

On 5 Aug 1867, Stephen Wilton (18) Harness Maker, 5ft 3in with brown hair, blue eyes, a fresh complexion and a scar on his chest, was sentenced to 20 days in Wandsworth Prison and a £2 fine, for Assault. Again, on 19 Apr 1870, Stephen Wilton (21) Harness Maker, 5ft 6in, with one previous conviction, was sentenced to 1 month in Wandsworth Prison, also for Assault.

In 1871, Ann Wilton (54), Needlewoman, 'wife's sister' was again living with Thomas and Sarah Clark, in Blakes Road, Camberwell, with her children, Stephen Wilton (23), Harness Maker, and Martha Wilton (10) Scholar. 

In 1881, Ann Wilton (64), was listed as an inmate at the Workhouse Gordon Road, Camberwell. (With Thomas Clark, having died in 1877 and sister, Sarah then lodging with her own daughter, options must have run out for Ann.) Martha Wilton (21), in 1881, was a General Servant to John Newlands (61) Warehouseman Fancy Goods, at 16, Talfourd Road, Camberwell.

In 1891 Ann Wilton (73) was again an Inmate in Camberwell Workhouse.

She must have left the workhouse at some point, because the Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records show Ann Wilton (77) being (re)admitted to Camberwell Workhouse on Thursday, 18 Jul 1895.

In 1901, Ann Wilton (83) Pauper was once again at Camberwell Workhouse.

According to the Register of Deaths in the Constance Road Workhouse, Camberwell, Ann Wilton died there, on 18 Feb 1909 (1909 M Quarter in CAMBERWELL Volume 01D Page 594), and was buried on 23 Feb 1909 at Camberwell Old Cemetery, Square 75, Grave 21367.

Henry Wilton and Mary Barton

The King's Head (closed), Great Dunmow. Photo © Robin Webster (cc-by-sa/2.0)

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.

Henry Wilton (bap. 30 Oct 1768 St Mary's, Sawston, Cambridgeshire), widower (not found previous marriage), son of Richard Wilton and Mary Robinson, married Mary Barton (b. ~ 1780 in Ruislip, Middlesex), spinster, both "Of This Parish" of St Mary's, Great Dunmow, on 20 Sep 1810.

In 1783 Henry had been apprenticed to Matthew Norris in Shelford, as a Collarmaker and, as with his brother, Stephen Wilton, this will have meant collars for horses. [Horse Collar Making, Draught Harness and Horse Collar Making] In Pigot's Directory of Essex 1823, under Taverns and Public Houses, is listed 'Henry Wilton, King's Head'. Also listed at the King's Head is William Cock, who was listed as the Licensee or Tavernkeeper from 1815 until at least 1829, so it isn't clear what role Henry Wilton played in this business.

Henry Wilton wrote his Will on 4 Apr 1839 and appointed his wife Mary and his friend Charles Prior, Basket Maker, Executor and Executrix. His bequests included: to his nephew Henry Wilton of Great Dunmow, Saddler and Harness Maker; to his wife Mary; to Elizabeth Wilton, widow of his late brother Stephen Wilton; to Charles Prior; to his niece Mary Prior, wife of Charles Prior; Henry Prior, son of Charles Prior; to Richard, Joseph, Elizabeth, Martha, Eleanor, Ann & Sarah, sons and daughters of his late brother, Stephen; and to his sister Martha Root (Martha Wilton, who had married John Root). Probate was not granted until 7 Nov 1854, for reasons I'm not yet aware.

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 (most likely at the Saracen's Head Hotel), on the other was Robert Hockley, tailor and draper.

Henry Wilton died at 78 in 1846 J Quarter in DUNMOW UNION Volume 12 Page 49, and was buried on 8 May 1846 in Great Dunmow (England and Wales, Non-Conformist Record Indexes).

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 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.