They were the second and sixth sons of the clergyman George & his wife Betty. George was born in about 1757 when the family were at Gedling, and Walter at Nottingham ten years later. This is the first member of the family to be named Walter, due I have no doubt to the family's strong friendship with the new Rector of Bingham.
George migrated towards Leeds, his mother's home town, and married Jenny Cope at Hemsworth in 1779. They had a daughter and at this time George was living at Timble Bridge, but both wife and child died.
George married again, to Ann Ridsdale. From Timble Bridge they moved to East Parade in Leeds. George was in partnership with Francis Ridsdale (see below) as “merchants” and they were joined by Walter Beaumont but at the end of 1796 this partnership was dissolved. By that time George and Ann had had several daughters, and more were to follow.
George then moved to South Crosland where he and Walter went into business together (or perhaps this was the continuation of the previous business) in premises leased from Richard Henry Beaumont of Whitley.
The brothers lived in some splendour – George at Crosland Hall (also part of the Whitley estate) not very far from the mill, and in due course Walter also was given a long lease of Healey House nearby. They were also supported with loans from their eldest brother Thomas and his in-law William Huthwaite of Nottingham, but unlike other such businesses of the period, this never seems to have been a huge success.
I do not have enough technical knowledge to understand even if it was primarily a wool cloth or cotton business. I have seen cotton suggested but in 1803 the brothers are referred to as Manufacturers of Woollen Goods in connection with a patent that they had obtained for a mixture to be used in the preparation of sheep or lambs wool “for various purposes.”
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The advertisement in 1811 makes clear that though the premises belonged to the Whitley estate, there was both woollen and cotton equipment for sale which belonged to Walter.
George married again, to Ann Ridsdale. From Timble Bridge they moved to East Parade in Leeds. George was in partnership with Francis Ridsdale (see below) as “merchants” and they were joined by Walter Beaumont but at the end of 1796 this partnership was dissolved. By that time George and Ann had had several daughters, and more were to follow.
George then moved to South Crosland where he and Walter went into business together (or perhaps this was the continuation of the previous business) in premises leased from Richard Henry Beaumont of Whitley.
The brothers lived in some splendour – George at Crosland Hall (also part of the Whitley estate) not very far from the mill, and in due course Walter also was given a long lease of Healey House nearby. They were also supported with loans from their eldest brother Thomas and his in-law William Huthwaite of Nottingham, but unlike other such businesses of the period, this never seems to have been a huge success.
I do not have enough technical knowledge to understand even if it was primarily a wool cloth or cotton business. I have seen cotton suggested but in 1803 the brothers are referred to as Manufacturers of Woollen Goods in connection with a patent that they had obtained for a mixture to be used in the preparation of sheep or lambs wool “for various purposes.”
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The advertisement in 1811 makes clear that though the premises belonged to the Whitley estate, there was both woollen and cotton equipment for sale which belonged to Walter.
George died in 1807, apparently in debt to his former business partner and relation of his wife, Francis Ridsdale.
After George died I think that Walter moved into Crosland Hall but soon got into financial difficulties and was declared bankrupt by the end of 1810.
The timing of the failure of Walter's business coincides closely with the death of his original, and I suspect rather benign (after all they were family), landlord R.H. Beaumont and the de facto succession of the Whitley estate into the hands of his much more pro-active brother John. But who am I to say whether George and Walter were ever good businessmen?
George and Ann had had numerous daughters. Someone wrote on a copy of our family tree “all insane” and of them -
- Susan or Susanna Maria lived at Ockbrook, Derby as a spinster until her death in 1842;
- Mary died in 1823 at Winsley near Harrogate (see note below);
- Everilde went to live at the house of Willam Elliott at Gedling and lived till 1854 (Mr Elliott was the husband of one of George and Walter's sisters);
After George died I think that Walter moved into Crosland Hall but soon got into financial difficulties and was declared bankrupt by the end of 1810.
The timing of the failure of Walter's business coincides closely with the death of his original, and I suspect rather benign (after all they were family), landlord R.H. Beaumont and the de facto succession of the Whitley estate into the hands of his much more pro-active brother John. But who am I to say whether George and Walter were ever good businessmen?
George and Ann had had numerous daughters. Someone wrote on a copy of our family tree “all insane” and of them -
- Susan or Susanna Maria lived at Ockbrook, Derby as a spinster until her death in 1842;
- Mary died in 1823 at Winsley near Harrogate (see note below);
- Everilde went to live at the house of Willam Elliott at Gedling and lived till 1854 (Mr Elliott was the husband of one of George and Walter's sisters);
- Ann Elizabeth in 1828 married a much older retired Indian Army officer called Henry Huthwaite (assumed to be a relation of Rev. Thomas Beaumont's wife) and lived for a time at Hoveringham not far from Gedling. As a youngish widow she moved to Cornwall and married a certain Thomas Guerin, living at Newlyn. She ended her days in Brighton in 1883.
In 1811 or sometime after, Walter went to his brother's house at East Bridgford where he lived until his death in early 1841. He had married a lady called Caroline Clarkson. She had relatives in South Carolina to whom she wrote from Bridgford in 1840. Walter and Caroline had had one child, Margaret, christened at Almondbury in 1799. Caroline as a widow lived with the Elliotts at Gedling for a while and then moved to Buckinghamshire. She died in 1861. Margaret was to get a legacy from Rev. John Walter of Bingham who made his will in 1807; it appears she died in 1813.
This note is compiled from my own research. The information comes from a large number of sources. As I have combined sources I may well have made some mistakes.
29 March 2018
In 1811 or sometime after, Walter went to his brother's house at East Bridgford where he lived until his death in early 1841. He had married a lady called Caroline Clarkson. She had relatives in South Carolina to whom she wrote from Bridgford in 1840. Walter and Caroline had had one child, Margaret, christened at Almondbury in 1799. Caroline as a widow lived with the Elliotts at Gedling for a while and then moved to Buckinghamshire. She died in 1861. Margaret was to get a legacy from Rev. John Walter of Bingham who made his will in 1807; it appears she died in 1813.
This note is compiled from my own research. The information comes from a large number of sources. As I have combined sources I may well have made some mistakes.
29 March 2018
Added 12 June 2024. I have altered the paragraph about Walter and Caroline so as to make corrections. But lots more information is coming to light about Caroline which may be written up another day.
Added 12 Dec. 2019: I discovered recently that Francis Ridsdale, who if I'm not mistaken was the maternal uncle of Mary and her sisters, was "of Winsley" from about 1820-1824. Presumably he owned or leased a house there. This helps to explain why Mary was there. I think it must have been this Francis Ridsdale, or perhaps his father of the same name, with whom George had been in partnership in Leeds.
Added 12 Dec. 2019: I discovered recently that Francis Ridsdale, who if I'm not mistaken was the maternal uncle of Mary and her sisters, was "of Winsley" from about 1820-1824. Presumably he owned or leased a house there. This helps to explain why Mary was there. I think it must have been this Francis Ridsdale, or perhaps his father of the same name, with whom George had been in partnership in Leeds.
Added 18 May 2024. Further discoveries include the fact the both George's wives (Jenny Cope and then Ann Ridsdale) were related to his business partner Francis Ridsdale, and it seems likely that there were family connections to the Beaumont brothers' mother Betty (Green); this is all rather hazy. Another, even more recent discovery is that one of the brothers (I don't know which, but suspect it was Walter) went to America in the early 1790s to help drum up business for a (then) partnership consisting of Francis Ridsdale and the two Beaumonts. This comes from evidence given in a case some years later in which it was said that "one of the Mr Beaumonts" had been in Baltimore (Maryland) prior to April 1795, soliciting orders. The case (Ridsdale v. Grant and/or Grant v. Ridsdale) is written up in various places, with evidence that by the recommendation of "Mr Beaumont," a certain Daniel Grant had sent his son Alexander from Baltimore to Ridsdale & Beaumont in England to establish business connections; and it appears that Mr Grant guaranteed the resulting commitments in terms which he later regretted. There does not seem to be any suggestion that "Mr Beaumont" was more deeply involved, and indeed it appears that a certain William Hamilton joined the Ridsdale - Beaumont partnership in London, but that the Beaumont brothers left that partnership at the end of 1796, the same time as a Ridsdale - Beaumont partnership in Leeds was ended. Sources include "Reports of Cases...(Maryland)" and London Gazette.
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