Joseph Watson, 1st Baron Manton
Encyclopedia
Joseph Watson, 1st Baron Manton (10 February 1873–13 March 1922) was a prominent English
industrialist and philanthropist
.
Watson was the only son of George Watson, soap manufacturer, of Donisthorpe House near Moor Allerton, Leeds, Yorkshire
. He was chairman of Joseph Watson & Sons Ltd, soap
manufacturers, of Leeds
, a director
of the London and North-Western Railway, a pioneer of industrialised agriculture in England and successful racehorse owner. Educated at Repton School
and Clare College, Cambridge
, he was recalled to the family firm before completing his degree, becoming chairman at a young age.
, 5 miles (8 km) NW of central Leeds. The business was an adjacent diversification from the small family farm, which covered the area between today's Outwood Lane and Broadway, with further rented ground to the SE. The former existence of the original business is today memorialized by the name of Tanhouse Hill Lane, to the east of which it stood, within a triangular site.
's biggest rival Lever started as a grocer who bought in soap from several suppliers, including Watson's, and branded them "Sunlight". Lever soon set up his own manufacturing plants, but by then Watson's had founded its own brands and independent marketing abilities. Watson was amongst the first of the established manufacturers to follow Lever's heavy advertising and revolutionary marketing techniques, offering prizes such as day trips to Brighton and visits to Paris to view the Grecian sculpture Venus de Milo, in exchange for soap wrapper returns. In 1885 production had been 100 tons per week, which rose fivefold by 1906. One of the by-products was glycerine, sold for the manufacture of explosives. The company, known locally as "Soapy Joe's" was based after 1861 at the Whitehall Road Soapworks, Leeds, strategically placed between the River Aire, from which palm oil
shipped in from around the world was unloaded, and the former railway terminal, from which the finished product was dispatched. It became one of the largest employers in the city, producing brands such as "Matchless Cleanser", "Venus" and "Nubolic".
's pioneering organisation of the Standard Oil
Co. in 1882 as a virtual monopoly combination of many small independent oil companies. The manufacturers in their idealism foresaw benefits from trusts to both consumer and producer from economies of scale, yet abuses occurred. A sugar trust evaded $4M of customs duty, and the creation of a beef trust seemed a threat to cheap food supplies. The dangers to the consumer were soon understood by the politicians and the Sherman Antitrust Act
of 1890 was the response. The Act was not totally successful and Theodore Roosevelt
in his 2nd. Presidency launched a new ""trust-busting" policy at about the same time the British soap trust was being established. Trusts and their activities made good copy in 1906, and the scheme was strongly opposed by the Daily Mail newspaper which campaigned for a boycott by its readers of the trust brands. Profits at participating firms were thereby severely reduced. The Northcliffe Press in its expanding and highly popular campaign over-stepped the mark by falsely asserting trust soaps to be made from scented fish oil. Although Watson and Lever won substantial libel damages from the press, losses in reputation and profits had been suffered all round. On the proposal of Watson and Crosfield, another large manufacturer, the scheme was abandoned in November 1906. By then Watson had already disposed of much of his shareholding, previously all held by himself and his uncle Charles, to William Lever, in exchange for Lever Brothers
shares in order to set up the trust.
Ltd.), selling him the remainder in July 1917, but remaining as Chairman. He had sold his half share in the Planter's Margarine Co Ltd. to Lever in July 1915, a joint venture established in November 1914 at Godley in Cheshire with Levers, in response to Government anxiety at the wartime loss of Dutch supplies. He had supplied it from his Olympia Oil & Cake Co. Ltd. at Selby, Yorks which operated the largest linseed oil crushing and refining plant in Europe also hardening whale oil, which he later sold to the Dutch firm Jurgens, which had outbid Levers. Watson had recently suffered substantial losses in an unsuccessful speculation in linseed oil, for use in his crushing plant, and it seemed to him the time to leave the industry and seek new projects.
. He founded the Olympia Agricultural Co Ltd., through which he invested much of his proceeds into agricultural estates totalling some 20000 acres (80.9 km²) at Selby (Yorks), Kennett (Wilts), Sudbourne(Suffolk) and at Offchurch (Warks.). His Olympia Oil & Cake Co. had produced a cake by-product used to fatten livestock.
, Leeds.
http://www.barwickinelmethistoricalsociety.com/4746.html
http://www.pontefractus.co.uk/history/barnbow-lasses.htm
Following the heavy consumption of munitions in the opening battles of WWI at the Somme, the Northcliffe Press (Daily Mail) brought to the public's attention what became known as "The Shell Crisis", signifying that the nation had given little thought to securing long-term munitions supplies needed to successfully wage an unprecedented protracted war. The Asquith government fell, to be replaced by that of Lloyd George, recently appointed Minister of Munitions to resolve the crisis. Watson as chairman of a six-man "Leeds Munitions Committee" made up from local industrialists, formed in August 1915, was charged by the government to establish immediately the first of 12 National Shell Filling Factories. A factory was promptly established on a 400 acres (1.6 km²) greenfield site at Barnbow, close to Leeds, resembling more a small town of detached houses and huts than a traditional factory, in order to contain and localise any accidental explosions. It remained the largest such operation in the country, having despatched overseas by the Armistice 566,000 tons of finished ammunition. At its height it employed 16,000 workers, 93% of whom were women and girls. Two members of the directing board were on duty at Barnbow every day, and the board met at least once a month to receive reports. The factory was largely self-contained for reasons of national security, operating under great secrecy. It operated its own farm including dairy and slaughterhouse. Kitchens and accounting department were equipped with the latest electric macinery. Nursing facilities and dentists were provided. Naturally it established its own fire brigade, which tragically had to deal with three accidental explosions, the most serious of which occurred in 1916, killing 35 women and injuring many more. Due to wartime censorship, no public account of the accidents was made. The memorials to these unfortunate victims are almost the only trace which remains of the operation on the site today.
. In 1921 he won the Epsom Oaks
with Love-in-Idleness, the Grand Prix de Paris
with Lemonora which also had gained third place in the Derby that year. Lemonora - somewhat incongruously for a stallion - named after an apricot coloured azalea, was immortalised for the latter placement in the 1935 film The 39 Steps in which "Mr Memory" was challenged to recite the names of the first 3 horses in the 1921 Derby.
in the County of Warwick. He had purchased the Robert Adam neo-classical mansion Compton Verney
and its 5079 acres (20.6 km²) estate in 1921 from Lord Willoughby de Broke, intending to make his seat there, which intention was not realised due to his sudden death in March 1922, before having taken up residence. Whether his elevation, at the behest of Lloyd-George, was the result of a political donation, has not been proved but the title is not amongst those generally quoted by commentators as falling into this category. Certainly family papers in existence do evidence the Prime Minister's gratitude to Watson for his work in munitions supply.
. The arms of Baron Manton became :"Argent, on a chevron azure between 4 martlets 3 in-chief and 1 in-base sable a crescent between 2 roses of the field". For supporters he also adopted a variant of Rockingham: "On either side a gryphon per fesse azure and argent, charged on the shoulder with a rose also argent". The arms of the Earls of Rockingham were: "Argent, on a chevron azure between 3 martlets sable as many crescents or". The Rockingham supporters were: "2 griffins argent ducally gorged or". Manton adopted the Rockingham motto without alteration: "Mea Gloria Fides" (Trust is my Renown). For his crest, Manton adopted a variant of the oak tree arms of the 17th c. Watson family of Saughton, Edinburgh: crest of Baron Manton: "a gryphon passant sable in front of an oak tree proper". The armourials of Watson of Saughton were: "Argent, an oak tree growing out of a mount in base proper surmounted of a fess azure". The latter family was granted in 1818 the griffin supporters of the Earls of Rockingham, noted above. There is no evidence of any genealogical link between the family of Joseph Watson and either of the two families from which he adopted his armourials. Burke' Armorials, 1884 does however list 4 Watson families in Yorkshire all bearing variants of the Rockingham arms, therefore possibly lineal descendants. The heir of the 3rd & last Earl of Rockingham in the more ancient title of Baron Rockingham was Thomas Watson-Wentworth, 1st Marquess of Rockingham
, who built the palatial mansion Wentworth Woodhouse
near Rotherham, Yorkshire. This house would come to have a connection with the 3rd Baron Manton
, whose maternal aunt Joyce Langdale of Houghton Hall, Sancton York, resided there following her 1956 marriage to the 10th Earl FitzWilliam
, which family was heir to the Rockinghams.
. His widow continued to reside until her death in 1936 in the mansion house of Offchurch Bury
. A portrait of Joseph Watson mounted on a hunter was painted by Lynwood Palmer.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
industrialist and philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
.
Watson was the only son of George Watson, soap manufacturer, of Donisthorpe House near Moor Allerton, Leeds, Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
. He was chairman of Joseph Watson & Sons Ltd, soap
Soap
In chemistry, soap is a salt of a fatty acid.IUPAC. "" Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. . Compiled by A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford . XML on-line corrected version: created by M. Nic, J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins. ISBN...
manufacturers, of Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
, a director
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
of the London and North-Western Railway, a pioneer of industrialised agriculture in England and successful racehorse owner. Educated at Repton School
Repton School
Repton School, founded in 1557, is a co-educational English independent school for both day and boarding pupils, in the British public school tradition, located in the village of Repton, in Derbyshire, in the Midlands area of England...
and Clare College, Cambridge
Clare College, Cambridge
Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1326, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. Clare is famous for its chapel choir and for its gardens on "the Backs"...
, he was recalled to the family firm before completing his degree, becoming chairman at a young age.
Founding of the Soap Business
The limited company Joseph Watson & Sons had been founded by Joseph his grandfather and had grown out of a hide tanning business established in about 1820 at Woodside, HorsforthHorsforth
Horsforth is a town and civil parish within the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, in West Yorkshire, England, lying to the north west of Leeds. It has a population of 18,928....
, 5 miles (8 km) NW of central Leeds. The business was an adjacent diversification from the small family farm, which covered the area between today's Outwood Lane and Broadway, with further rented ground to the SE. The former existence of the original business is today memorialized by the name of Tanhouse Hill Lane, to the east of which it stood, within a triangular site.
Career of Joseph Watson
It was however Joseph the grandson who turned the company from the medium sized concern built up by his father and uncle Charles into one which ruled the soap market of North-East England, with national and international markets, becoming William LeverWilliam Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme
William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme was an English industrialist, philanthropist, and politician....
's biggest rival Lever started as a grocer who bought in soap from several suppliers, including Watson's, and branded them "Sunlight". Lever soon set up his own manufacturing plants, but by then Watson's had founded its own brands and independent marketing abilities. Watson was amongst the first of the established manufacturers to follow Lever's heavy advertising and revolutionary marketing techniques, offering prizes such as day trips to Brighton and visits to Paris to view the Grecian sculpture Venus de Milo, in exchange for soap wrapper returns. In 1885 production had been 100 tons per week, which rose fivefold by 1906. One of the by-products was glycerine, sold for the manufacture of explosives. The company, known locally as "Soapy Joe's" was based after 1861 at the Whitehall Road Soapworks, Leeds, strategically placed between the River Aire, from which palm oil
Palm oil
Palm oil, coconut oil and palm kernel oil are edible plant oils derived from the fruits of palm trees. Palm oil is extracted from the pulp of the fruit of the oil palm Elaeis guineensis; palm kernel oil is derived from the kernel of the oil palm and coconut oil is derived from the kernel of the...
shipped in from around the world was unloaded, and the former railway terminal, from which the finished product was dispatched. It became one of the largest employers in the city, producing brands such as "Matchless Cleanser", "Venus" and "Nubolic".
Establishment of Soap Trust Monopoly
On 4th. August 1906 Watson and William Lever, by then the largest manufacturer, met in the Grand Hotel in London to finalise a plan to set up a "Soap Trust" which would merge the major soap manufacturers into a monopoly, thereby gaining economies of scale in advertising and production costs. Watson favoured the use of a parent company whilst Lever preferred a scheme of exchange of shares between participating companies to bind them together. The timing however was poor. The scheme was in imitation of hundreds of similar trusts which had been established in the USA following John D. RockefellerJohn D. Rockefeller
John Davison Rockefeller was an American oil industrialist, investor, and philanthropist. He was the founder of the Standard Oil Company, which dominated the oil industry and was the first great U.S. business trust. Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry and defined the structure of...
's pioneering organisation of the Standard Oil
Standard Oil
Standard Oil was a predominant American integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 as a corporation in Ohio, it was the largest oil refiner in the world and operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational...
Co. in 1882 as a virtual monopoly combination of many small independent oil companies. The manufacturers in their idealism foresaw benefits from trusts to both consumer and producer from economies of scale, yet abuses occurred. A sugar trust evaded $4M of customs duty, and the creation of a beef trust seemed a threat to cheap food supplies. The dangers to the consumer were soon understood by the politicians and the Sherman Antitrust Act
Sherman Antitrust Act
The Sherman Antitrust Act requires the United States federal government to investigate and pursue trusts, companies, and organizations suspected of violating the Act. It was the first Federal statute to limit cartels and monopolies, and today still forms the basis for most antitrust litigation by...
of 1890 was the response. The Act was not totally successful and Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
in his 2nd. Presidency launched a new ""trust-busting" policy at about the same time the British soap trust was being established. Trusts and their activities made good copy in 1906, and the scheme was strongly opposed by the Daily Mail newspaper which campaigned for a boycott by its readers of the trust brands. Profits at participating firms were thereby severely reduced. The Northcliffe Press in its expanding and highly popular campaign over-stepped the mark by falsely asserting trust soaps to be made from scented fish oil. Although Watson and Lever won substantial libel damages from the press, losses in reputation and profits had been suffered all round. On the proposal of Watson and Crosfield, another large manufacturer, the scheme was abandoned in November 1906. By then Watson had already disposed of much of his shareholding, previously all held by himself and his uncle Charles, to William Lever, in exchange for Lever Brothers
Lever Brothers
Lever Brothers was a British manufacturer founded in 1885 by William Hesketh Lever and his brother, James Darcy Lever . The brothers had invested in and promoted a new soap making process invented by chemist William Hough Watson, it was a huge success...
shares in order to set up the trust.
Disposal to Lever Brothers and Jurgens
In 1912/13 Watson sold much of his remaining shareholding to Lever (Lever BrothersLever Brothers
Lever Brothers was a British manufacturer founded in 1885 by William Hesketh Lever and his brother, James Darcy Lever . The brothers had invested in and promoted a new soap making process invented by chemist William Hough Watson, it was a huge success...
Ltd.), selling him the remainder in July 1917, but remaining as Chairman. He had sold his half share in the Planter's Margarine Co Ltd. to Lever in July 1915, a joint venture established in November 1914 at Godley in Cheshire with Levers, in response to Government anxiety at the wartime loss of Dutch supplies. He had supplied it from his Olympia Oil & Cake Co. Ltd. at Selby, Yorks which operated the largest linseed oil crushing and refining plant in Europe also hardening whale oil, which he later sold to the Dutch firm Jurgens, which had outbid Levers. Watson had recently suffered substantial losses in an unsuccessful speculation in linseed oil, for use in his crushing plant, and it seemed to him the time to leave the industry and seek new projects.
Pioneer of Industrialised Agriculture
On retirement from the soap industry, Watson turned his focus to the pioneering of industrialised agriculture, spurred on by wartime food shortages, and funded the Agricultural Research Department at Leamington SpaLeamington Spa
Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or Leamington or Leam to locals, is a spa town in central Warwickshire, England. Formerly known as Leamington Priors, its expansion began following the popularisation of the medicinal qualities of its water by Dr Kerr in 1784, and by Dr Lambe...
. He founded the Olympia Agricultural Co Ltd., through which he invested much of his proceeds into agricultural estates totalling some 20000 acres (80.9 km²) at Selby (Yorks), Kennett (Wilts), Sudbourne(Suffolk) and at Offchurch (Warks.). His Olympia Oil & Cake Co. had produced a cake by-product used to fatten livestock.
Wartime Munitions Work
At the start of the First World War Watson's industrial and organisational expertise was called on by the government, and he assisted in the establishment and operation of national munitions factories, most notably at the First National Shell Filling Factory at BarnbowBarnbow
Barnbow was a munitions factory situated near the city of Leeds during World War I. It was officially known as National Filling Factory No. 1. In 1916 the factory suffered the worst tragedy in the history of the city , when a massive explosion killed 35 of the women who worked there.After the...
, Leeds.
http://www.barwickinelmethistoricalsociety.com/4746.html
http://www.pontefractus.co.uk/history/barnbow-lasses.htm
Following the heavy consumption of munitions in the opening battles of WWI at the Somme, the Northcliffe Press (Daily Mail) brought to the public's attention what became known as "The Shell Crisis", signifying that the nation had given little thought to securing long-term munitions supplies needed to successfully wage an unprecedented protracted war. The Asquith government fell, to be replaced by that of Lloyd George, recently appointed Minister of Munitions to resolve the crisis. Watson as chairman of a six-man "Leeds Munitions Committee" made up from local industrialists, formed in August 1915, was charged by the government to establish immediately the first of 12 National Shell Filling Factories. A factory was promptly established on a 400 acres (1.6 km²) greenfield site at Barnbow, close to Leeds, resembling more a small town of detached houses and huts than a traditional factory, in order to contain and localise any accidental explosions. It remained the largest such operation in the country, having despatched overseas by the Armistice 566,000 tons of finished ammunition. At its height it employed 16,000 workers, 93% of whom were women and girls. Two members of the directing board were on duty at Barnbow every day, and the board met at least once a month to receive reports. The factory was largely self-contained for reasons of national security, operating under great secrecy. It operated its own farm including dairy and slaughterhouse. Kitchens and accounting department were equipped with the latest electric macinery. Nursing facilities and dentists were provided. Naturally it established its own fire brigade, which tragically had to deal with three accidental explosions, the most serious of which occurred in 1916, killing 35 women and injuring many more. Due to wartime censorship, no public account of the accidents was made. The memorials to these unfortunate victims are almost the only trace which remains of the operation on the site today.
Career on the Turf
Apart from his business career, Watson was a keen rider to hounds, hunting with the Bramham Moor Foxhounds in Yorkshire, near his home at Linton Spring, Wetherby. He was a prominent racehorse owner and in 1918 acquired the Manton training establishment http://www.brianmeehanatmanton.com/tourmanton.php near Marlborough, Wilts. from Alec Taylor, Jr.Alec Taylor, Jr.
Alec Taylor, Jr. was a British Thoroughbred racehorse trainer who followed in the footsteps of his highly successful father, Alec Taylor, Sr.....
. In 1921 he won the Epsom Oaks
Epsom Oaks
The Oaks Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs over a distance of 1 mile, 4 furlongs and 10 yards , and it is scheduled to take place each year in early June....
with Love-in-Idleness, the Grand Prix de Paris
Grand Prix de Paris
The Grand Prix de Paris is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,400 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year in July.-History:...
with Lemonora which also had gained third place in the Derby that year. Lemonora - somewhat incongruously for a stallion - named after an apricot coloured azalea, was immortalised for the latter placement in the 1935 film The 39 Steps in which "Mr Memory" was challenged to recite the names of the first 3 horses in the 1921 Derby.
Philanthropy
In 1921 Watson donated £50,000 to the Leeds General Infirmary, of which he was a board member from 1906 to his death, to replace some of its investments which had to be sold during WWI, presumably to meet running costs. A half-length bronze bas-relief portrait of Watson in his baronial robes is displayed there in the George Street entrance hall, under which is inscribed A Wise Counsellor and Generous Benefactor. The bronze is in imitation of a Roman stela or tombstone, and depicts him with the hand gesture characteristic of a Roman orator or senator grabbing his toga at the chest.Purchase of Compton Verney and elevation to the Peerage
In January 1922 he was raised to the peerage for his war services as Baron Manton of Compton VerneyCompton Verney
Compton Verney is a manor and parish in the county of Warwickshire, England.Compton Verney House is an 18th century country mansion which has been converted into an art gallery....
in the County of Warwick. He had purchased the Robert Adam neo-classical mansion Compton Verney
Compton Verney House
Compton Verney House is an 18th century country mansion at Compton Verney near Kineton in Warwickshire which has been converted into the Compton Verney Art Gallery....
and its 5079 acres (20.6 km²) estate in 1921 from Lord Willoughby de Broke, intending to make his seat there, which intention was not realised due to his sudden death in March 1922, before having taken up residence. Whether his elevation, at the behest of Lloyd-George, was the result of a political donation, has not been proved but the title is not amongst those generally quoted by commentators as falling into this category. Certainly family papers in existence do evidence the Prime Minister's gratitude to Watson for his work in munitions supply.
Armorials
Joseph Watson adopted a variation of the armorials of the Watson Earls of Rockingham, which earldom had become extinct in 1746 on the death of Thomas Watson, 3rd Earl of RockinghamThomas Watson, 3rd Earl of Rockingham
Thomas Watson, 3rd Earl of Rockingham was an English nobleman and politician. He served as Member of Parliament for Canterbury from 1741 until 1745 when he succeeded to the earldom. He died the next year at the age of thirty.-Titles from birth to death:*The Hon. Thomas Watson *The Hon. Thomas...
. The arms of Baron Manton became :"Argent, on a chevron azure between 4 martlets 3 in-chief and 1 in-base sable a crescent between 2 roses of the field". For supporters he also adopted a variant of Rockingham: "On either side a gryphon per fesse azure and argent, charged on the shoulder with a rose also argent". The arms of the Earls of Rockingham were: "Argent, on a chevron azure between 3 martlets sable as many crescents or". The Rockingham supporters were: "2 griffins argent ducally gorged or". Manton adopted the Rockingham motto without alteration: "Mea Gloria Fides" (Trust is my Renown). For his crest, Manton adopted a variant of the oak tree arms of the 17th c. Watson family of Saughton, Edinburgh: crest of Baron Manton: "a gryphon passant sable in front of an oak tree proper". The armourials of Watson of Saughton were: "Argent, an oak tree growing out of a mount in base proper surmounted of a fess azure". The latter family was granted in 1818 the griffin supporters of the Earls of Rockingham, noted above. There is no evidence of any genealogical link between the family of Joseph Watson and either of the two families from which he adopted his armourials. Burke' Armorials, 1884 does however list 4 Watson families in Yorkshire all bearing variants of the Rockingham arms, therefore possibly lineal descendants. The heir of the 3rd & last Earl of Rockingham in the more ancient title of Baron Rockingham was Thomas Watson-Wentworth, 1st Marquess of Rockingham
Thomas Watson-Wentworth, 1st Marquess of Rockingham
Thomas Watson-Wentworth, 1st Marquess of Rockingham, KB, PC was a British peer and Whig politician.Watson-Wentworth was the only son and heir of Hon...
, who built the palatial mansion Wentworth Woodhouse
Wentworth Woodhouse
Wentworth Woodhouse is a Grade I listed country house near the village of Wentworth, in the vicinity of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. "One of the great Whig political palaces", its East Front, long, is the longest country house façade in Europe. The house includes 365 rooms and covers an...
near Rotherham, Yorkshire. This house would come to have a connection with the 3rd Baron Manton
Rupert Watson, 3rd Baron Manton
Joseph Rupert Eric Robert Watson, 3rd Baron Manton .Rupert Watson was born on January 22, 1924, the son of George Miles Watson, 2nd Baron Manton , and Alethea Langdale, 2nd. da. of Lt-Col. Philip Joseph Langdale OBE JP DL of Houghton Hall, Sancton, Yorks. He inherited the title 3rd Baron Manton on...
, whose maternal aunt Joyce Langdale of Houghton Hall, Sancton York, resided there following her 1956 marriage to the 10th Earl FitzWilliam
Earl FitzWilliam
Earl Fitzwilliam was a title in both the Peerage of Ireland and the Peerage of Great Britain held by the head of the Fitzwilliam family. This family claim descent from William the Conqueror. The Fitzwilliams acquired extensive holdings in South Yorkshire, largely through strategic alliances through...
, which family was heir to the Rockinghams.
Succession
Watson married (Frances) Claire, daughter of Harold Nickols, of Leeds, in 1898. He died in March 1922, aged only 49, from a heart-attack, whilst out hunting beside 2 of his sons with the Warwickshire Foxhounds, at Upper Quinton, close to his new mansion, having held his title for less than two months. He was buried at nearby Offchurch, in his hunting apparel. His estate was sworn for probate at exactly one million pounds. He left four sons, being succeeded in the barony by the eldest, (George) Miles Watson, 2nd Baron MantonBaron Manton
Baron Manton, of Compton Verney in the County of Warwick, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1922 in recognition of war services for the Leeds industrialist Joseph Watson...
. His widow continued to reside until her death in 1936 in the mansion house of Offchurch Bury
Offchurch Bury
Offchurch Bury is a manor house located one mile to the north west of the village of Offchurch, Warwickshire, England.It was originally built in the 17th century, but most of the current house dates from the 19th century. In 1954 approximately 75% of the house was demolished. It is in private...
. A portrait of Joseph Watson mounted on a hunter was painted by Lynwood Palmer.
Sources
- Dictionary of Business Biography, ed. David J. Jeremy, 1984, (Butterworths) vol 5, part 2, pp. 690–2.
- Wilson, Charles. The History of Unilever. London, 1954. Vol.1.
- Rimmer, W.G., Men Who Made Leeds. Leeds Journal no.32 (1961) pp. 143–6.
- Obituary, The TimesThe TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, 14 March 1922 - Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.