Norman Watney
1834-1911
Born: Wandsworth, London, England
Died: Sevenoaks, Kent, England
<p>As Christopher Oldstone-Moore has argued in his excellent article about the Victorian ‘beard movement’, the middle years of the nineteenth century witnessed an abrupt volte-face in attitudes towards facial hair. The eighteenth century had been one where men were almost entirely clean-shaven. The face of the enlightened gentleman was smooth, his face youthful and his countenance clear, suggesting a mind that was also open. Growing a beard at this point would have been a deliberate act done purposefully to convey a message. John Wroe, for example, leader of the Christian Israelite group, let his beard grow wild to signify his withdrawal from society.<br>By the mid-Victorian period, however, the beard came back into fashion with remarkable swiftness. Part of the reason for this was changing ideals of masculinity. This was the age of exploration, of hunters, climbers and explorers. As rugged adventurers began to tackle the terra incognita of far-flung continents, they would immerse themselves in wild nature, letting their beards grow thick. The beard became a symbol of rugged manliness and men began to emulate their bewhiskered heroes.<br>Another element of the rise of the beard, however, was the supposed medical benefit of facial hair. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, facial hair had been viewed as a form of bodily waste. It was regarded as resulting from heat in the liver and reins, and was partly a signifier of a man’s virility. Equally though, as a waste product, shaving it off might be seen as healthy as it was another way of ridding the body of something potentially harmful.<br>By 1850, however, doctors were beginning to encourage men to wear beards as a means of warding off illness. As Oldstone-Moore points out, the Victorian obsession with air quality saw the beard promoted as a sort of filter. A thick beard, it was reasoned, would capture the impurities before they could get inside the body. Others saw it as a means of relaxing the throat, especially for those whose work involved public speaking. Some doctors were even recommending that men grew beards to avoid sore throats. Clergymen who shaved, according to one correspondent in the Hampshire Advertiser in 1861, invited all sorts of ‘thoracic and pectoral woes’!<br>The 1894 edition of the Gloucestershire Notes and Queries contains an interesting example of this practice, but actually goes further by claiming that the county of Gloucestershire was in fact the first in Britain to fully embrace the beard! In a letter headed up ‘The Moustache and Beard in Gloucestershire’ the journal reported that ‘the custom among the civil population of wearing moustaches was first started in Gloucestershire’. <br>The article included a letter from a Mr William Johnston to the Gloucester Chronicle of 23 January 1892 who stated that he believed he was ‘the first individual of the city of Gloucester (and perhaps in the county) to grow the beard and moustache. I was induced by my medical man, the late Mr J.P. Hearne, about 42 years ago, to give up shaving and let my beard and moustache grow. I had been a terrible sufferer for a good many years with very sore throat. I was just getting the better of a very severe attack when the old doctor remarked to me ” Johnston, I advise you to give up shaving and let your beard and moustache grow, which, if you do, I believe you will not suffer again with such bad sore throat.” <br>I took his advice, and have not had a sore throat since, and it was the opinion of many of my friends and acquaintances in Gloucester that the moustache and beard was a great improvement to my looks and added immensely to the dignity of my countenance, so much so that a great many of them began to cultivate the beard and moustache, and amongst them a very prominent druggist (Mr Tucker) and woolen draper (Mr F.C.Newman) and within a very few years beards and moustaches were cultivated by hundreds in Gloucester and neighbourhood, and are now almost universal’.<br>Thanks to Prof. Jonathan Barry for passing this example to me. You heard it here first though; Gloucestershire was the beard progenitor of Victorian Britain. Whatever the truth of the matter, the medical aspect of beards and facial hair is one that invites more study. Were there any quack medicines, for example, that used the supposed medical benefits of beards as a selling point. I’ve only found one so far – the so-called ‘beard generator’, and this was more an aid for beardless boys who were lacking in the chin-whisker department. Yet another reason to continue research into this fascinating, and often overlooked, aspect of the history of masculinity and the body.</p>
<p><strong>James Watney</strong> (18 December 1800–1884) was a brewer and landowner who resided at Haling Park, Croydon, and Beddington, Surrey. He was born to Daniel Watney (1771-1831) of Mitcham, Surrey and Katherine Maria Gresham (1770-1808) daughter of Sir John Gresham, 6th Baronet of Limpsfield (or Titsey). He was the grandson of John Watney (1747-1814) and great-grandson of Daniel Watney (1705-1780) of Wimbledon, Surrey.</p><p><span>Professional life</span></p><p>The Watney family were the main partners in the Stag Brewery of Pimlico for much of the 19th century. In 1837 James Watney became a partner in the brewery with John Lettsom Elliot and Charles Lambert, as later did his sons James and Norman in 1856. The brewery was known as Elliot, Watney & Co from about 1849. John L Elliot withdrew from the business in 1850 and for 8 years remained a partner in name only. He finally retired in 1858 and the firm became known as James Watney & Co. James Watney then kept the management almost entirely to himself until his death, well over eighty, in I884. After his death in 1884 Watney & Co Ltd became a private limited company in 1885.</p><p>In 1898 it acquired Messrs. Combe Delafield and Co. and Messrs. Reid and Co., and was thereafter known as Messrs. Watney Combe & Reid.</p><p>James Watney was Master of the Mercers' Company in 1846, but had few other interests outside business.</p><p>James Watney contributed several thousands of pounds towards building a new church just as his father had done at Mitcham.</p><span>[edit]</span> <span>Family life</span><p>On 15 October 1829, at St. Saviour's Church, Southwark (now Southwark Cathedral), James Watney married Rebecca Spurrell, elder daughter of the brewer and hop merchant James Spurrell, of Park Street, Southwark, who was employed by Barclay & Perkins's Anchor Brewery, Southwark.</p><p>They had nine children. All five daughters remained unmarried. Of the four sons, one (Frederick) died young, aged 8 in 1846. The other three were:</p><p> </p><ul><li><strong>James Watney</strong> (1832-1886) of Beddington, Surrey, and Thorney House, Palace Gate, Kensington, was Conservative MP for East Surrey from 1871–1885 and Master of the Mercers' Company in 1879. He also played cricket for Surrey (1851) and Middlesex (1851-1852). Married Blanche Maria Georgiana Burrell in 1856.</li></ul><ul><li><strong>Norman Watney</strong> (1834-1911) of Valance, Westerham, Kent, was educated at Harrow. He was a Justice of the Peace and a Deputy Lieutenant for Kent, and served as Master of the Mercers' Company in 1880. Married Matilda Jane Robinson on 26 April 1866 at Clitheroe, Lancashire. He built Valence, Westerham (now a school) in 1885.</li></ul><ul><li><strong>Herbert Watney</strong> (1843-1932) of Buckhold, Pangbourne, Berkshire (now St. Andrew's School), was educated at Rugby and St. John's College, Cambridge. He was Senior Assistant Physician at St. George's Hospital, London and Master of the Mercers' Company in 1915. Married Sarah Louisa Rainsford on 22 January 1873 at All Saints Church, Wandsworth, Surrey.</li></ul><p>The east window in Emmanuel Church, Croydon was given by his son Norman in 1899 to the Glory of God and in loving memory of his parents James and Rebecca Watney. It was destroyed by enemy action in 1944 and replaced in 1954.</p>