Welbore St. Clair Baddeley was born on 30 September 1856 in St Leonards, Hastings, Sussex, the sixth of the seven children of Lieutenant Colonel John Fraser Loddington Baddeley, RA, (1825-1862) and Emma Baddeley née Curtis (1831-1911). His birth was registered in the 4th quarter of 1856 in the Hastings registration district.
On 15 January 1859 he, together with two siblings: John Frederick Augustus Baddeley (1854-1940) and Blanche Adeline Baddeley (1858-1925) was baptised at Holy Trinity Church, Paddington, where the baptismal register shows the family living at 10 Cleveland Square, Paddington and that their father was a Major in the Royal Artillery.
In the 1861 census he is shown as living at Government Quarters, Enfield Highway, Middlesex, with his parents and three siblings: Ada Henrietta Baddeley (1851-1896), Frazer Ellis Baddeley (1852-1923) and Blanche Adeline Baddeley, together with a governess, a male & 2 female servants. His father continued to be listed as a Major in the Royal Artillery.
He is described as a scholar in the 1871 census attending Wellington College, Sandhurst, Berkshire and in the 3rd quarter of 1894 in the Kensington registration district he married Helen Georgiana Grant (1864-1951). Their son, Edmund Louis Owen Baddeley (1895-1931) was killed in flying accident on 12 September 1931 at Leith Hill, Dorking, Surrey.
Electoral registers from 1903 show him listed at Castle Hale, Stamages Lane, Painswick, Stroud, Gloucestershire and Kelly's Directory of the County of Gloucester lists him at this address as a Justice of the Peace for the Stroud Petty Sessional Division. He was still residing there at the time of the 1939 England and Wales Register, in which he is shown as an archaeologist, together with his wife, a cook a parlour-maid, a housemaid and a Charlotte Mahala Watkins (1860-1943) who is describe as being a single person of private means.
Probate records confirm that he died, aged 88 years, on 14 February 1945 and that when probate was jointly granted to his widow and a William Waterhouse Gibbons of no occupation, his effects totalled £29,613-10s-1d. His death was registered in the 1st quarter of 1945 in the Stroud registration district.
Some of the books he wrote are listed on the University of Glasgow website.
Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk and Andrew Behan.
