Anne-Mary Edmonstone

Daughter of Demerara plantation owner Charles Edmonstone, granddaughter of an Arawak woman, Minda, and plantation owner William Reid. Inherited £5,000 in 1827 from her father which was passed on marriage to her husband Charles Waterton, owner of Walton Hall near Wakefield. Died in 1830 21 days after birth of son, Edmund Waterton.

Now marked with a blue plaque raised by the Forgotten Women of Wakefield.

[1] Born 14th July 1810 on father, Charles Edmonstone’s property in Demerara. Baptised 1st Aug 1811 – Cardross, Dumbartonshire

[2] Anne-Mary was sent to a convent in Bruges for education and instruction in conversion to Catholicism in order to marry her father’s associate Charles Waterton, with the marriage taking place in Bruges on 18th May 1829, with a second marriage for legal purposes taking place Church of St Helen’s in the parish of Sandal, Wakefield on December 20th 1829.

[3] Anne-Mary gave birth to Edmund Waterton at Walton Hall the 7th of April 1830 and died of puerperal fever 21 days later. She was buried on 30th April at St Helen’s Church, Sandal Magna, without service.

We are grateful the Forgotten Women of Wakefield team: Helga Fox, Sarah Cobham, Catherine Clarke, Zainab Jode, and Abibat Olulode, for assisting in the compiling of this entry. 

John George Wood 1882 Introduction to Wanderings in South America, p. 307. Will of Charles Edmonstone produced June 1827 with the inventory entered into records May 1828. Forgotten Women of Wakefield: https://forgottenwomenwake.com/ - Laura Reid, “The story of the sisters who protected Charles Waterton's natural history collection”, Yorkshire Post, 24th March 2023 - https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/heritage/the-story-of-the-sisters-who-protected-charles-watertons-natural-history-collection-4076806

1. Sarah Cobham, "Petticoat Patrimony: The Edmonstone Sisters", Yorkshire Bylines, 11th January, 2023 - https://yorkshirebylines.co.uk/news/world/petticoat-patrimony-the-edmonstone-sisters/ Church of Scotland Register, Cardross, Dumbartonshire, 1827.

2. Parish Records Sandal Magna Dec 29 1829, p. 133, West Yorkshire Archive Services

3. Yorkshire Gazette, Saturday 17th April 1830. Sarah Cobham, “Petticoat Patrimony part three: Anne-Mary and Charles, myth vs reality”, Yorkshire Bylines, 25th January, 2023 -https://yorkshirebylines.co.uk/society/petticoat-patrimony-part-three-anne-mary-and-charles-myth-vs-reality/ West Yorkshire, Church of England Deaths and Burials, 1813-1985, Sandal Magna St. Helen’s Church, 1830 – p. 101.