Whatmore Family History

The wealthiest of all the members of our family whom I have yet come across was almost certainly JAMES WADMORE The Younger. His family name was originally WATMOUGH and  his line can be traced back to Sandy in Bedfordshire in the 1500s. It would seem, then, that the Wadmores are part of the Watmough family of the north of England. The Wadmores themselves certainly believed so and adopted the coat of arms of the Watmough family of Prescot.

It was the James Wadmore  the Elder, born at Bedford in 1747 who founded the Wadmore family of London. He married Mary Allison on 7 January 1776 at  St Marylebone’s Church in London.

James and Mary had five children all born in London – Mary 1777, John 1778, Susanna 1780, JAMES WADMORE The Younger, born 4 October 1782 at Hampstead Road, and Thomas Wadmore 1785.

Both James and Mary died at Southgate, Middlesex, Mary in 1831 and James in 1839.

We owe our knowledge of James Wadmore The Younger to the research carried out by John Grosvenor Laing  which was published in 1953 as ‘The Wadmores of London’. I are deeply indebted to the work of John Laing. The illustrations in this post are reproduced from his book.

James  Wadmore The Younger was sent, with his brother Thomas, to school at Bowes Farm near Greta Bridge in Yorkshire. There they were taught, fed and clothed for £20 a year. At the age of about twelve, James returned to London and initially worked as a clerk at the Stamp Office, Somerset House but on 3 November 1795 he was apprenticed to John Pricket of Highgate, a land surveyor.

When his apprenticeship ended in 1803, James Wadmore commenced business on his own account and was greatly assisted by his uncle, Sir Thomas Foster who introduced him to a number of prospective clients. At this time James also obtained the Freedom of the City of London and membership of the Skinners Company.

In 1804, James joined the St Pancras Volunteers. In 1806 he was appointed Ensign and in 1808 he was commissioned Lieutenant. He resigned in about 1814.

On 3 November 1808, James Wadmore married Hester Sarah Fry at St Marylebone’s church, London, but the marriage does not seem to have a particularly harmonious one and Hester suffered from ill health. She died on 24 January 1820. James and Hester had no children.

By 1809, James’s business was thriving and he was able to take a 14 year lease on a house in Lisson Grove, Paddington. His clients now included the Marquis of Devonshire, Lord Darlington and Lord Jersey.

James’ relationship with his uncle and benefactor Sir Thomas Foster was not always an easy one and James resented being at his uncle’s beck and call as a companion. Their relationship was threatened by a furious row in 1811 which was healed by the gift to James of a half-share in Old Fulham Bridge (worth about £700 at that time).

James was now an increasingly wealthy man owing to contracts such as that with the Ombersley estate in Warwickshire in 1814 and the death of his uncle the following year brought  James a considerable estate. He was now able to indulge his taste in the Fine Arts, acquiring pictures by Rowlandson, Gainsborough and Poussin amongst others.

By 1818 the neighbourhood of Lisson Grove was deteriorating so James Wadmore took a 21 years lease on 40 Chapel Street, Marylebone, a large mansion with a garden.

In 1821, James Wadmore remarried to Henrietta Robinson at St Marylebone’s church in a clandestine ceremony, probably due to embarrassment at Henrietta having broken off a previous engagement only a short time before.

James and Henrietta had two children – James Foster Wadmore born on 4 October 1822  and Henry Robinson Wadmore born on 7 July 1824.  Henrietta died of puerperal fever only eleven days afterwards.

In 1829 James was elected Renter Warden of the Skinners company, then Third, Second and First Warden and then in 1834 he was elected Master.

James was one of the Guardians of the Poor for the parish of Marylebone and during the cholera outbreak of 1832 he fearlessly visited, on a regular basis,  the wards of the Poorhouse checking that the needs of the sick were being met.

When the lease of the house on Chapel Street expired, James moved again – this time to Grosvenor Lodge in the High Road at Upper Clapton. He paid 2100 guineas for the remaining 95 lease. The ground rent was £20 a year. As it was a smaller house than his previous home he had a large picture gallery added to the building in 1843.

James Wadmore passed away on 24 December 1854 at Grosvenor Lodge. The funeral possession, led by the hearse drawn by horses clothed in velvet with black ostrich plumes on their heads, made its slow way to Highgate Cemetery where he was buried. (Square 27  No. 5507)

  Click to enlarge

At the time of his death, James was a member of the Astronomical Society and of the Graphical and Numismatic Societies, Chairman of Fulham Bridge, Hon. Member of the Royal Jennerian society and of the London Vaccine Institution, a member of the Board of Guardians of St Marylebone, Hon. Governor of Middlesex Hospital, past master and member of the Court of the Skinners Company and Freeman of the City of London.