The published list of Oxford alumuni (up to 1886) includes the names of 9 members of our family and the published list for Cambridge (up to 1900) shows the names of 3 members of our family. I have tried to find out as much as possible about these nine individuals. These are the results.

Please note that the alumini lists do not appear to be comprehensive as we know of several other family members who became clergymen but were not included.

OXFORD ALUMINI

 Hugh Watmough 

Hugh Watmough matriculated at University College on 1 December 1581 aged 19. He obtained his BA  on 29 February 1584, his MA on 6 July 1586 and his BD on 27 June 1594. He was licenced to preach on 18 April 1597.

Hugh Watmough was born at Halifax in 1563, the only son of John Watmough – the High Constable of Halifax.

Initially Hugh was Chaplain to the Earl of Derby but in 1599 he was appointed to the rectory of Thornton in Craven. Soon afterwards, Hugh’s father died and he inherited Thornton Hall at Thornton near Bradford. He married Susan Favour the daughter of Vicar Favour, his father’s friend. Their known children were:

John (died young), Mary 1608, John 1610, Timothy 1612, Joshua 1613, Isabell 1617, Susan 1622.

In 1609 Hugh was appointed vicar of Bury in Lancashire. His religion tended towards Puritanism and this caused some resentment in Bury . There was also disapproval of his permission for the construction of a seat in the north chapel of Bury church.

Whilst Hugh will have made visits to Thornton Hall, and was probably responsible for the restoration of the Bell Chapel there, it is unlikely that he ever lived there.

By the time Hugh died in 1623 he was a wealthy man and in addition to Thornton Hall he possessed the manors of Thornton, Clayton and Oxenhope with their farms and hamlets. Two of his sons, John and Timothy attended Oxford University (see below). Susan, his wife, returned to Halifax and in 1634 she remarried to Christopher Naylor. She died in 1651 at Sowerby.

These details were taken from ‘Wat’s Brother-in-Law’ by Geoffrey Whatmore. Details of this CD ROM can be found at this link:

http://www.genfair.co.uk/product_details.php?pid=13906  Timothy Watmough 

Timothy Watmough was the son  of Hugh (above). He was born in 1612. he matriculated at Brasenose College Oxford on 11 March 1631 when he was 18. he obtained his BA on 6 February 1633 and his MA from Pembroke College on 14 November 1635.

Timothy was mentioned in his sister Mary’s will of 1632 but is omitted from his brother’s John’s will of 1639, implying that he died between 1635 and 1639.

 Thomas Watmore

Thomas was born in 1675 at Bewdley, Worcestershire.He was the son of Thomas Watmore  born 1645 who was three times Bailiff of Bewdley, and Joyce his wife. Thomas Senior was Bailiff in 1685 when the Borough was required to surrender its charter. The Council resisted and James II ordered the removal from office of Thomas Watmore Seniorand some of his fellow burgesses. The story will be told in a future post.

Thomas Watmore  Junior matriculated at University College on 12 March 1694 aged 18. Tragically, he died the following year, presumably whilst still at Oxford

 James Watmough

James Watmough was baptised on 2 February 1616 at Leigh in Lancashire. He was the son of Robert Watmough of Lowton who had married Elizabeth Sorrocold  at Leigh on 19 October 1613.

James matriculated at Brasenose College Oxford on 20 March 1634 aged 19 and obtained his BA on 27 October 1638. He later became Vicar at Bowden in Cheshire and his story, researched by Geoffrey Whatmore and published in ‘Wat’s Brother-in-Law’, will be told in a future post.

 James Watmough

Another James Watmough (pauper puer) matriculated at Queen’s College Oxford on 3 July 1663 and obtained his BA in 1667, but that is all we know. He may have been the James who was baptised on 13 July 1645 at Leigh, Lancashire.

Rev. John Hill Watmough

John Hill Watmough  matriculated  on 19 October 1874 aged 19 as a commoner  at St Mary’s Hall, Oxford. In the list of alumini, John Hill’s father is described as ‘James of Preston, gent.’

John Hill Watmough transferred to Queen’s College Oxford in 1876 and he received his BA there in 1878 and his MA in 1882.

The story of the Rev. John  Hill Watmough has been told in an earlier post

Beauchamp Wadmore

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Beauchamp Wadmore was born on 6 August 1861 at Sheldon Villa, Upper Clapton, Middlesex, the son of James Foster Wadmore and his wife Anna Elizabeth Holt. James Foster Wadmore was an artist, architect and sometime Master of the Skinners Company. The Wadmores were originally Watmoughs and have been traced back to Bedfordshire  - hence their inclusion in this post.

Beauchamp was educated at Tonbridge School from 1872 – 1880 and he matriculated at Christ Church College, Oxford on 31 January 1881 aged 19. However, his father was unable to keep him there more the one year originally intended and in 1882, Beauchamp took up an appointment as an Assistant Master at a Prep. School in Beaconsfield. A friend, however, persuaded him to complete his university career and in 1883 he entered New Hall Inn and passed his Mods but once again his father could not afford to pay for him to continue. (This seems very odd as his father does not seem to have been short of money.)  Beauchamp then trained as an architect and eventually was admitted into partnership with his father.

On 8 January 1891 Beachamp Wadmore married Caroline Norfolk in Grimsby Parish Church. Tragically, Caroline died three years later. On 14 November 1896 he remarried at Sevenoaks to Florence Marion Jackson. Beauchamp and Florence had two children – Marion in 1899 and Joan in 1911.

Beauchamp Wadmore died on 4 December 1937 at his home in Bedford

  Henry Robinson Wadmore 

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Henry Robinson Wadmore was the brother of James Foster Wadmore and hence uncle to Beauchamp Wadmore. Henry Robinson was born on 7 July 1824 at Chapel Street, Marylebone, London. His father was James Wadmore the Younger and James’s second wife Henrietta Robinson.

Henry matriculated at Pembroke College, Oxford on 10 October 1842 aged 18. He obtained his BA in 1846 and his MA in 1849.  He was ordained Deacon on 19 December 1847 at Archibishop Tenison’s Chapel in Regent Street, London and was appointed Curate at Messing in Essex. In 1848, he was appointed to the church at Hazeleigh in Essex.

Henry married Emily Holt  at St Thomas’s Church, Stamford Hill, London on 23 November 1848.

Henry and Emily had six children: Herbert James Walton 1850, Alban Henry Thomas 1851, Alice 1853, Ida Louise 1855, Henry Robinson 1857 and Mary 1860.

On 7 January 1849, Henry Robinson Wadmore was ordained Priest at Archbishop Tenison’s Chapel, Regent Street, London.

In 1850 the family moved to South Stoke, Oxfordshire where Henry had a Chaplaincy, and in 1851 to Bagshot in Surrey. In 1852 Henry and his family moved again to live with Henry’s father at Grovenor Lodge, Upper Clapton. Henry was now Acting Curate of Holy Trinity, Tottenham but by 1854 he became Vicar of St Barnabus, Kings Square, Goswell Road. In 1860 he was appointed to St John’s Wood Chapel.

Henry conceived the idea of building a new church in the northern part of St John’s Wood. His brother James Foster Wadmore acted as architect. The church, All Souls, Hampstead, cost £4,200 to build – the whole of which was met by Henry Robinson Wadmore who was appointed as Perpetual Curate. The new church was consecrated on 8 May 1865.

 

Henry Robinson Wadmore died on 22 March 1897 at his home at 15 Fairfax Road, Hampstead.

 James Alfred William Wadmore 

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James was born on 23 Nov 1850 at Grosvenor Lodge, Upper Clapton, London, the eldest son of James Foster Wadmore. James attended Dr Manning’s Prep School at Springfield, Essex and then Tonbridge School. He matriculated at Oriel College, Oxford on 25 October 1869 aged 18 and obtained his BA in 1873. He obtained his MA in 1876.

James was ordained Deacon in 1874 and appointed Curate of Holy Trinity, Halstead, Essex. In 1875 he was ordained Priest at Rochester.

In May 1875, James married Ellen Florence Shore at Whatley, near Frome in Somerset.

The children of James and Ellen were: Mildred Irene 1876, Alfred Meryn 1877, James Christopher 1878, Muriel Agnes Rosamond 1879, Alice Cecily 1881 and Mabel Florence 1884.

In 1877 James  was appointed as Curate at Christ Church, Erith, Kent but moved in 1878 to St Katherine’s, Felton Common near Bristol. In 1882 he was appointed to the living of Barrow Gurney.

 In 1911, James was appointed as Vicar of Pill in Somerset but had to resign in 1912 due to ill health. James was then appointed to the Prebendal Stall of Easton-in-Gordano, Wells. In 1915 he was appointed Vicar of Oakhill near Bath, but retired in 1917.

In April 1918 James and his wife moved to Clevedon in Somerset where he died on 3 June 1918.

 The details of the lives and careers of the 3 Wadmore graduates and their photographs, and the print of All Souls, Hampstead, were taken from  ‘The Wadmores of London’ complied by John Grosvenor Laing, which was privately published in 1953.  

CAMBRIDGE ALUMINI

 William Watmer 

William Watmer alias Watmore was admitted as a sizar at Emmanuel College, Cambridge on 5 July 1669. A sizar was a student of limited means who was charged lower fees and obtained free food and/or lodging and other assistance during his period of study. Sizars had to earn their keep by acting as servants to the wealthier students.

William matriculated in 1670, obtained his BA in 1673 and his MA in 1684. He was ordained as deacon and priest at Gloucester on 20 February 1674. He served as Curate of St John’s near Worcester (probably St John Bedwardine), as rector of Great Comberton, Worcestershire and as Chaplain to Colonel Richard Ingoldesby’s Regiment of Foot in 1695.

See the earlier post on ‘William Watmer - Rector of Great Comberton’

William father is shown as Watmeer of Salop, but it is difficult to identify his family. His immediate predecessor at Great Comberton was a Thomas Watmer who was appointed in 1679 and who served until his death in 1683. The wife of this Thomas appears to have been an Eleanor who died at Great Comberton in 1684. It is tempting to think that William was the son of this Thomas and Eleanor, but why was William’s father’s name not recorded in the Cambridge University records? This suggests to me that he was illegitimate and that his father was unknown. He would have been baptised during the period of the Commonwealth when the registers of many churches were poorly kept and this would explain why William’s baptism has not been traced.

Turning back to Thomas and Eleanor - their marriage has not been traced, perhaps for the same reason that William’s baptism has not been found, but what is strange is that there is no record of a suitable Thomas Watmore in the lists of Oxford amd Cambridge alumini.

John Watmough

John Watmough was the eldest surving son of the Rev Hugh Watmough of Bury (see above). John was born in 1610 at Bury. He was admitted to Lincoln’s College in 1625. He was admitted as a pensioner, aged 18 to Christ’s College, Cambridge on 8 September 1627. He married Frances Barcroft of North Bierley in 1632. They had only one child – John Watmough who died in 1635. John inherited Thornton Hall on the death of his father. John died in 1639 and in his will he left the rents of his estates to his wife and after her death to his brother Joshua who was a haberdasher in London. John’s widow remarried to Robert Blundell of Preston.

 William Henry Watmough 

William Henry matriculated (non-coll) at Oxford at Michaelmas 1894. He migrated to St Catherine’s College on 3 October 1896. He obtained his BA in 1897 and his MA in 1903.

No trace of a suitable William Henry Watmough can be found in the censuses until 1901 when there was a William Henry Watmough aged 37, born Bradford (June Qtr 1865), at Plymouth, working as a Schoolmaster. This is the only William H Watmough in 1901 working in an occupation suitable for a graduate.

This William Henry Watmough married in the Plymouth Registration District in December Quarter 1904 to a Ruth Bailey who was born Dec Qtr 1883 in Hornsey, Middlesex.

William Henry and Ruth had two known children – Beulah Gladys Ruth Watmough born in Plymouth in 1906 and John Frederick Watmough born in Plymouth in 1908. A Hilda Joyce Watmough was born in 1907 in the Plymouth Registration District and she may have been the daughter of William Henry and Ruth, but she was not with them in 1911.

At the time of the 1911 census this Watmough family was living at 15 Beatrice Avenue Plymouth and William Henry Watmough was a schoolmaster in a Council school.