Wilmot Edwardes

Wilmot Llewellyn Edwardes was born in Codsall in Dec 1845, the only son of George Edwardes, a local doctor and surgeon and his wife Anne, nee Evans.

Wilmot Edwardes as a young boy

We have two likenesses of him. A portrait of him as a young boy and a photo from Florence Evans’ photo album.

The charming portrait of the young Wilmot hung prominently in the dining room at Upton for many years and it seems reasonable to presume that Henry Evans named his own son Wilmot in part after his first cousin Wilmot Edwardes.

Wilmot died at Tettenhall Wood at the age of 37 on 10 April 1883. His mother died five years later with no direct descendants. Henry was executor of both Wilmot and his mother Anne’s wills and would have owned the portrait from 1888 until he passed it to his daughter Molly on his death in 1923.

The photograph, made some twenty years after the portrait,  in line with others in that album dates from the late 1870’s. In the 1871 census he is described as Factory Clerk.

Wilmot Edwardes

There is a portrait of his father, George Edwardes the surgeon, held by the New Cross Hospital. It is of a similar date to our portrait, and possibly by the same artist.

Last updated on 18 July 2020 by JJ Morgan