Edward Atherton

Edward Atherton was born 21/08/1768 and baptised 23/09/1768 in St John, Preston, Lancashire, son of Richard Atherton and his wife Mary. Richard Atherton was a woollen draper in Preston and one of the founders of the Preston Old Bank. Edward's uncle William (d. 1803) owned Green Park and Spring Vale Pen in Jamaica which he bequeathed to his brother John. John in turn bequeathed to Edward half of the Jamaican estates and £35,000 in trust to buy property.

Edward's father Richard had expected to inherit the Jamaican property on the death of John but in fact he predeceased him. Edward's sisters Elizabeth, Catherine, Mary and Lucy were also given generous legacies, securred on the property.

Edward Atherton of Marylebone married Elizabeth Wood Smith, a widow of Dover, Kent, in Marylebone, 19/12/1818. His will was proved in 1821. An Edward Atherton was buried in St James, Kent, 28/08/1820. It's not known whether they had any children to inherit the property. According to an unsourced website, William Peatt Litt became a partner in Spring Vale estate in 1825 and the estate remained in the hands of the Atherton family until the 1910s.

Elizabeth Wood Atherton remarried, to Harrison Arrowsmith of Camberwell in St Luke, Chelsea, 13/03/1821. The causes of Atherton v. Park and Arrowsmith v Ingram presumably refer to the estate of Edward Atherton.

Ancestry.com, England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 [database online].

Will of William Atherton, PROB 11/1403/224. Will of John Atherton, PROB 11/1636/408. Will of Richard Atherton PROB 11/1654/174.

J. A. Hamilton, ‘Park, Sir James Alan (1763–1838)’, rev. Jonathan Harris, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online edition (Oxford University Press, 2004). Gentleman's Magazine Vol. 11 (February 1839) p. 211.

http://www.cockpitcountry.com/springvale.html [accessed 05/08/2015].

Ancestry.com, London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921 [database online].

TNA C 13/849/23: Atherton v Park. Plaintiffs: Mary Atherton and others. Defendant: James Allan Park and wife, Thomas Martin, Sir James Allan Park and wife, William Peatt Litt and Richard Steele (abroad). Amended by an order dated 4 April 1826: Jane Wallace, Harrison Arrowsmith and wife and Richard Ingham John added as defendants. Amended by an order dated 21 May 1827: Louisa Lucy Park, Katherine Eliza Park and Emma Mary Park added as defendants.

TNA C 13/2895/2: Arrowsmith v Ingram. Plaintiffs: Harrison Arrowsmith and others. Defendant: William Platlitt, Richard Steele, James Park alias James Allan Parke, Sir James Allan Park and wife, Mary Atherton, Elizabeth Atherton, Catherine Atherton, Richard Ingham and wife, Ann Smith and Jane Wallace.