Abstract - Daniel Wait was born in 1761, the eldest son of a prosperous Bristol

grocer. Around 1788 he was married to Mary Jago.

Daniel joined his father’s wholesale and retail grocery business, first in Castle Street,

and later in Broad Street and at some stage he also took over his father’s share in the

Whitson Court sugar refinery. Daniel also diversified into other areas of business, in

particular tobacco, banking and property development. He was a partner in the

tobacconists and snuff-making the firm of ‘George Franklyn and Co’ which operated a

factory at No. 12 Welsh Back. The partnership was dissolved in 1797 but George

Franklyn carried on the business (without Daniel). Following amalgamations it has

become part of the Imperial Tobacco Group.

In 1810 Daniel was one of the six partners to establish the Bristol Castle Bank’, with

the right to issue its own banks notes and prestigious premises on the junction of Wine

Street and the High Street in the centre of Bristol. Following amalgamations it has

become part of the Nat West Bank

Daniel Wait 1760 - 1813

(Second of Name)

Sheriff, Alderman, Magistrate and Mayor of Bristol, Governor of the Incorporation of the Poor, grocer, tobacconist, sugar refiner, banker,

director of the Bristol Dock Company. Trustee of the Methodist New Room in the Horsefair and of Guinea

Street Methodist Chapel, Bristol

by

Geoffrey Audcent © 2014, Mendip Road, Yatton, North Somerset

Daniel Wait (1730-1807)

Grocer of Castle Street, Bristol

Robert Wait (1695-1755)

Farmer of Rangeworthy and Norton Malreward

William Wait (1669-1754)

Farmer of Castle Combe

Daniel Wait (1730-1807)

Grocer, Banker, Mayor of Bristol

Around 1802 Daniel was one of the subscribers who raised £250,000 share capital to

the Bristol Dock Company, with the aim of building a ‘floating harbour’ for the city.

Following a ballot of the subscribers Daniel subsequently became a director of the

Bristol Dock Company. In 1800 he also purchased some farmland at the upper end of

Stokes Croft for development and built two large semi-detached villas on the site (one

of which he probably occupied as his own residence).

Daniel was a prominent member of the Bristol Methodist Society becoming a Trustee

of the Wesley’s chapel called the ‘New Room’ in the Horsefair, and of the Guinea

Street Chapel (where a Methodist congregation formed in 1779). He was one of the so-

called ‘Old Planners’ who wanted Methodism to remain a movement within the

Church of England rather than become a separate church. He believed that Methodists

should worship in their parish church on the Sabbath and receive communion only

from ordain clergymen of the Church of England. This led to a split in the Bristol

Methodist Society in 1794, when Daniel and fellow Trustees prohibited a ‘New

Planner’ from preaching in their chapels.

He died on 2 September 1813 1 and was buried on 9 September 1813 in the churchyard

of St James, Bristol. A stone plaque was later erected on the internal east wall of the

south aisle of St James church, in memory of Daniel and his wife, and also two of their

grandchildren who died young.

1 The Gentlemen’s Magazine (1813), page 402: 2 September 1813…..In Bristol, Daniel Wait, esq. alderman of St

Ewin's.

The Early Life of Daniel Wait

Daniel Wait was born on 2 August 17612 and baptised in the church of St Peters, Bristol, on 31

August 1761, the eldest son of a Bristol grocer also named Daniel Wait, and his wife Mary (née

Williams).

Daniel was married around 1788 to Mary Jago (born 10 July 1776 at Falmouth, daughter of John

Jago and his wife Olympia (née Matthews - niece and adopted-daughter of Katherine and Thomas

Killigrew of London and Falmouth. She died 1826).

Daniel and Mary had three children:

1. Daniel Guildford Wait. He was born in 1789 and baptised in the parish church of St

Werburgh, Bristol, on 3 December 1789. This Anglican church was where many Church-

Methodists worshipped. He became an Anglican clergyman as Rector of Blagdon, was a

Hebrew scholar at Cambridge University and religious writer.

2. William Killigrew Wait. Born 11 March 1797, and baptised 8 April 1797 in the parish

church of St James. He went into business as a corn merchant, and was a partner in ‘Messrs

Wait & James’, at No. 32 Welsh Back. In 1826 he was residing at Redland Lodge,

Westbury-on-Trym, and was married at Clifton on 11 March 1826, to Frances Newman of

Thornbury Park. They had issue.3

3. Catherine Wait. Born c1793 at Bristol. She was married on 21 May 1829 at Westbury-on-

Trym to Samuel James, a banker.

A painting of Daniel with his wife and three children exists and is now in the ownership of Peter

Wait.

Daniel was raised in Bristol where his father (“Daniel Wait senior”) built a successful wholesale and

retail grocery business in Castle Street. The enterprise grew rapidly, and by 1785 “Daniel Wait

junior” (as well as his brother John Wait) had joined the family business. The directories of Bristol

in 1787 and 1793 refer to “Daniel Wait and Sons, grocers”, with “Daniel Wait junior” being one of

2 Date of birth from his monumental inscription. 3 Details from John Burke, A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland,

enjoying territorial possessions or high official rank, but uninvested with heritable honours, Volume 2 (1835).

Danniel Wait 1760 - 1813

(Second of Name)

Sheriff, Alderman, Magistrate and Mayor of Bristol,

Governor of the Incorporation of the Poor, grocer, tobacconist, sugar refiner, banker,

director of the Bristol Dock Company. Trustee of the Methodist New Room in the Horsefair and of Guinea Street

Methodist Chapel, Bristol

the “Sons”. He would eventually surpassed his father in terms wealth, influence, reputation and

social standing.

Daniel remained in his business with his father (in contrast to his brother John who appears to have

gone left the partnership to go into business as a grocer on his own account). In 1792 father and son

moved from Castle Street to Broad Street after “Daniel Wait senior and Daniel Wait junior” signed

the lease of a property in Broad Street, on 19 December 1792 which they rented from the Bristol

Corporation. This then seems to have become their main business premises.4

In 1793 Daniel’s father became a partner in a sugar refining business, known as ‘Dighton, Wait,

Dymock & Co’. The company acquired a sugar house in Whitson Court, located on what is now

Whitson Street and the Bristol Bus and Coach Station.5 At some stage (between 1797 and August

1807, when his father died) Daniel took the place of his father in the partnership. The partnership

initially leased the sugar house from Mr Andrew Pope, for a period of 14 years from 1793, at a

yearly rental of £175. This arrangement allowed them to maximise their working capital but caused

problems in 1803, when the freehold was acquired by a speculator from the north of England. Faced

with the prospect of vacate their sugar house in Whitson Court when the lease expired in 1808,

Dighton, Wait, Dymock & Co were forced to purchase the property outright (at an inflated price) in

1803. In 1808 Daniel owned around a fifth of the company (holding four of the twenty-one shares).6

In 1813 (at his death) his interest was valued at £972/3s/4d.7

In addition to taking over his father’s interests in the grocery business and sugar house “Daniel Wait

the younger” also diversified into other business sectors - in particular tobacco, banking and

property development.

The tobacco business

Daniel was a partner in the firm of ‘George Franklyn and Co’ (the other partners being George

Franklyn and John Ward). This tobacconists and snuff-making business traded from a factory

located at No. 12 Welsh Back. The factory occupied what was once described as one of the finest

Jacobean houses in the West of England and formerly the home of the Langton family. On 30 June

1797 the partnership was dissolved by mutual consent, notice of which appeared in the London

Gazette on 4 August 1797.8 George Franklyn carried on the business (without Daniel) until it was

amalgamated in 1901 with W.D. & H.O. Wills to form the Imperial Tobacco Company, one of the

world's leading producers of tobacco products. The factory in Welsh Back was demolished in 1905,

and the internal timber and plaster work was salvaged and reused in the construction of New Place

house near Southampton (now a De Vere group country house hotel).

4 Bristol records office – References 761/23a and 761/23b – lease by Corporation of Bristol to Daniel Wait senior and

Daniel Wait junior dated 19 December 1792. 5 A number of historians have identified Daniel Wait junior as the partner in Dighton, Wait, Dymock & Co from 1793,

and whilst it is certainly true that whilst Daniel Wait junior became a partner in this firm, it was his father, Daniel Wait

senior, who was initially involved with the firm (up to at least 1797). Evidence for this is a notice, dated 19 April 1797,

which appeared in the London Gazette stating that the partnership of Dighton, Wait, Dymock & Co had been dissolved

and reconstituted under the same name, after one of the partners had decided to leave the firm. The notice named the

seven partners, who included “Daniel Wait, Sen.” - London Gazette 1797…..page 367. 6 Articles of agreement for Whitson Court. 1 Oct 1808, transcribed by 1. V. Hall, Hall Papers, box 5 7 See (a) Kristine Bruland and Patrick O'Brien, From Family Firms to Corporate Capitalism: Essays in Business and

Industrial History in Honour of Peter Mathias (1998), and (b) an article by I. V. Hall, entitled Whitson Court Sugar

House, Bristol, 1665-1824, in Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, Volume 65, 1-97

(1944). 8 Evidence for this is a notice, dated 4 August 1797, which appeared in the London Gazette stating that the partnership

of George Franklyn, Daniel Wait the younger and John Ward as Tobacconists and Snuff-Makers, carried on under the

Firm of George Franklyn and Co. at Bristol had been dissolved on 30 June last by mutual consent, and that George

Franklyn was to continue the trade - London Gazette, 1797….. page 765.

The banking business

Probably the most lucrative of Daniel’s business interests was his share in a private bank, although

the setting up of the bank was probably only prompted by the needs of his sugar refinery business -

in particular the need for convenient access to overdraft facilities and a place to safely invest surplus

profits. Daniel, together with his old friend William Dymock (a partner in the Whitson Court sugar

house), founded the private bank in 1810. It soon developed into a profitable concern, with the right

to issue its own banks notes and prestigious premises in the centre of Bristol.

The bank was established in Bristol in 1810 as ‘Ricketts, Thorne, George, Wait, Dymock &

Courtney’, but known as the ‘Bristol Castle Bank’. The six partners were Daniel Wait, William

Dymock, Jacob Ricketts, George Thorne, James George and John Courtney. Following Daniel’s

death his share in the bank passed to his widow Mary. As partners left or died the bank’s name was

gradually changed, to ‘Ricketts, Thorne, George & Courtney’ from 1817 and ‘Ricketts, Thorne &

Courtney’ from 1822. In 1826 the bank became part of Stuckey’s Banking Co, and following

several further amalgamations the business has become part of the NatWest bank, which is today

owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland. The bank quickly began to issue its own promissory notes, as

did many other banks in Bristol. The partners applied for a licence to issue notes in 1812. Daniel’s

address in the licence application was Stoke Croft, Bristol.

The Castle Bank conducted its business from what became known as ‘The Dutch House’ on the

corner of Wine Street and the High Street. This timber-framed building was a well-known Bristol

landmark until destroyed in the Bristol Blitz.

Property development

Around 1802-1803 Daniel was one of the subscribers who raised £250,000 share capital to the

Bristol Dock Company. The company was legally established by Act of Parliament for the purposes

of building a ‘floating harbour’ for the city. The project involved constructing lock gates further

down the river Avon, so that the water could be dammed and the ships remain afloat at all times. It

was also necessary to cut a canal to provide a new course for the river on the Somersetshire side of

the city. “Daniel Wait the younger” was named as one of the subscribers in the Bill that was brought

before Parliament and received royal assent in 1803. Following a ballot of the subscribers Daniel

subsequently became a director of the Bristol Dock Company.9

In 1800 Daniel purchased some farmland at the upper end of Stokes Croft for development. He built

two semi-detached villas on the site, called Crofton House and The Limes. Construction of the

houses appeared to have been completed by 1812 (although the earliest cartographic evidence is a

plan attached to a deed of 1816, shows both completed).10 The properties still stand on the junction

of Cheltenham Road and Bath Buildings. His private address in the banking licence application of

1812, and at his death in 1813, was Stoke Croft, so it is likely he had moved into one of these two

houses.

Bristol’s municipal government

Daniel's success in business secured him a considerable advantage in another aspect of life. In 1798

he entered on a public life and as a member of the Corporation of Bristol, he occupied the three

most important offices in the city: he was Sheriff in 1798, the Mayor of Bristol in 1805 and an

9 Charles Wells, A short history of the Port of Bristol (1909), pages 45-46. 10 See https://www.bristol.gov.uk/committee/2006/wa/wa001/0906_6-1.pdf.

https://www.bristol.gov.uk/committee/2006/wa/wa001/0906_6-1.pdf

Alderman (for St Ewen) from 1808. The offices of Sheriff and Mayor were held for a year, but

Aldermen enjoyed tenure life.

Daniel served as Sheriff for one year from 1798. This office was usually occupied by those who had

recently joined the Corporation, as in Daniel’s case. The Sheriff presided over the Tolzey Court, a

law court that exercised civil jurisdiction on behalf of the Mayor over matters arising within the

city. The Sherif also oversaw the city’s gaol and house of correction, and acted as the returning

officer in elections.

After around seven years as a common councillor Daniel became Mayor of Bristol in September

1805, for a term of one year. The Mayor chaired Common Council meetings, was chief magistrate

and presided over the Quarter Sessions. He was also an ex-officio member of various organisations

and committees, and entertained local dignitaries. During the mayoralty the mayor was expected to

reside at the Mansion House in Queen Square. To defray outgoings, the Mayor was entitled to the

income from tolls on shipping known as “Mayor’s Dues”, which were supplemented to make up an

agreed stipend of £2,000.

From 1808 until his death in 1813 Daniel also served as an Alderman of the city of Bristol. The

position of alderman was no sinecure - the twelve Aldermen were responsible for licensing taverns,

setting rates, supervising the police force and local charities and served on many of the

Corporation's committees. Daniel is mentioned as being a magistrate, in 1811, when he considered a

petition for clemency submitted on behalf of a young thief sentenced to transportation. Daniel’s

report recommended mercy be shown.11

Daniel was also a Governor of the Incorporation of the Poor for two terms (1811-12 and 1812-13).12

This statutory body was independent of the Corporation of Bristol, and was responsible for running

the poorhouse, known as St Peter’s Hospital, and paying outdoor relief to Bristol’s paupers .

In 1809 a premises at No. 35 Cornwallis Crescent, Bristol, was assigned by Thomas Cole to Henry

Brown and Daniel Wait in consideration of the sum of £1,000 and interest.13

Daniel’s role in the Methodist movement

Daniel’s family had all been enthusiastic follows of Rev John Wesley, the founder of Methodism.

Daniel followed their example, being listed (still unmarried) with his father in Wesley's autograph

roll of the Bristol membership for 1783.14 In due course Daniel became a Trustee of the Wesley’s

chapel called the ‘New Room’ in the Horsefair, and of the Guinea Street Chapel (where a Methodist

congregation formed in 1779) in the parish of St Mary Redcliffe.

Daniel has a place in Methodist constitutional history as one of the small band of Bristol ‘Church-

Methodists’ who stood doggedly for the ‘Old Plan’ of Methodism in the debates which filled the

years between the death of John Wesley and the ‘Plan of Pacification’ in 1795.15 Daniel was one of

the so-called ‘Old Planners’ who wanted Methodism to remain a movement within the Church of

England, with Methodists continuing to worship in their parish church on the Sabbath and receiving

communion only from ordained clergymen of the Church of England.

11 The National Archives item reference HO 47/46/5: report of H Wilcox, David Evans and Daniel Wait, magistrates of

Bristol, on 1 collective petition 12 people. 12 Transactions of the Corporation of the Poor, in the city of Bristol, during a period of 126 years: alphabetically

arranged, with observations, and a prefatory address to the Guardians of 1826, page 29. 13 Bristol Records Office item reference 4965/16/a, deed of assignment dated 25 May 1809 14 Proceedings of the Wesley Historical Society, Volume 6, Sept. 1908, pages 131. 15 Proceedings of the Wesley Historical Society, Volume 6, Sept. 1908, pages 131.

This led to a controversy when Daniel and his fellow Trustees signed an attorney's letter on 11

August 1794, prohibiting a popular Methodist minister, named Henry Moore, from preaching at the

New Room or Guinea Street chapels (because of the fact that he had administered the sacrament

without being an ordained priest in the Church of England).16 The letter was as follows:

“Mr. Henry Moore, We the undersigned, trustees for the Methodist Preaching house, called

the New Room, in the Horse-Fair, and also for Guinea-street Chapel, do give you this

Notice, that you are not appointed by us to preach or expound God's holy word in either of

those places, and that no other person or persons have or hath any legal right to make that

appointment, but only we the trustees: we therefore forbid and caution you against

attempting trespassing upon the above trust premises, as you will answer it at your peril.

Henry Durbin, William Green, Daniel Lane, Edward Stock, William Pine, Thomas

Roberts, Daniel Wait, Jun. Nath. Gifford. John Curtis” 17

This caused uproar within the Bristol Methodist Society. Most of the Society’s members withdrew

from the New Room and Guinea-street chapels, and immediately proceeding to erect another chapel

in Old King Street. Gradual separation from the Church of England was made yet more explicit by

the Plan of Pacification the following year (1795) which allowed the administration of the

sacraments as well as the holding of marriage and funeral services in those Methodist chapels where

a majority of officials approved.

For the next six years the Methodists in Bristol were split between Daniel and his fellow ‘Old

Planners’ (also known as ‘Church Methodists’) and the ‘New Planners’. The latter gained the

ascendancy as the ‘Old Planners’ gradually died or left. By 1800 realising their position was

hopeless, the ‘Old Planners’ decided to handover both the New Room and the Guinea Street chapels

to the ‘New Planners’. It is not known whether Daniel remained Methodist after this date but it is

more likely that he returned to the Anglican fold. Thus, when he became Mayor of Bristol in 1805

he appointed his brother (Rev William Wait, a Church of England priest) as Chaplain to the Mayor,

and when he was Governor of the Incorporation of the Poor in 1812, he appointed his brother as

Chaplain of St Peter’s Hospital with an augmented salary of £50 per year. Also, in 1812 his eldest

son was ordained a deacon in the Church of England in 1812.

“Mr Wait jun”, together with his father and uncle (William Wait), were regular subscribers to the

‘Methodist Society for the instruction and conversion of the Negroes in the West-Indies’.18

Daniel latterly lived in the suburb of Stokes Croft, in the parish of St James, Bristol. He died on 2

September 1813 19 and was buried on 9 September 1813 in the churchyard of St James, Bristol. The

burial register states that he was an Alderman of the City of Bristol, aged 53 and was resident at

Stokes Croft (St Pauls). Probate was granted on the will of “Daniel Wait, Alderman of Bristol ,

Gloucestershire” by the Prerogative Court of Canterbury in London on 26 November 1813.20

16 See Jonathan Barry, Kenneth Morgan, Reformation and revival in eighteenth-century Bristol (1994), Pages 152-168

onwards for an account of the schism. See also Proceedings of the Wesley Historical Society, Volume 6, Sept. 1908,

pages 130-2 (Notes and Queries). 17 William Myles, A Chronological History of the people called Methodists ... from 1729 - 1812 (1813) page 228. 18 Thomas Coke, A statement of the receipts and disbursements for the support to the missions established by the

Methodist society: for the instruction and conversion of the Negroes in the West-Indies, addressed to the subscribers

(1794). 19 The Gentlemen’s Magazine (1813), page 402: 2 September 1813…..In Bristol, Daniel Wait, esq. alderman of St

Ewin's. 20 The National Archives, reference: PROB 11/1550/12: Prerogative Court of Canterbury: Will Registers - Will of

Daniel Wait, Alderman of Bristol , Gloucestershire. 26 November 1813.

His widow Mary died on 23 February 1826 and was buried by the Rev Thomas Biddulph on 2

March 1826 in the churchyard of St James, Bristol. The burial register states that she was aged 58

and resident at Redland. Probate was granted on the will of “Mary Wait, Widow of Bristol ,

Gloucestershire” by the Prerogative Court of Canterbury in London on 20 April 1827.21

A stone plaque was later erected on the internal east wall of the south aisle of St James church, in

memory of Daniel and his wife, and also two of their grandchildren who died young in the 1830s.

The memorial consists of a marble wall panel set within stone surround comprising columns and

pediment with angels as brackets below and angels pinnacles above, and displaying the Waite

blason.

21 The National Archives, reference: PROB 11/1725/105: Prerogative Court of Canterbury: Will Registers - Will of

Mary Wait, Widow of Bristol , Gloucestershire. 20 April 1827.

Minature portrait of Daniel Wait – probably painted around 1800.

The minature was passed down to his great-granddaughter (Mrs Catherine Castle) and was reproduced in ‘A History of

Banking in Bristol’ from 1750 to 1899 by Charles Henry Cave, published in 1899.

Castle Street in Bristol (c1908) – now the location of Castle Park, where Daniel worked

in the family grocery buisness during the 1780s.

The Mansion House in Queen Square, where Daniel resided as mayor from 1805 to 1806,

as painted in 1824 by Samuel Jackson

Welsh Back, where George Franklyn & Co had its tobacco and snuff factory

The Castle Bank on the corner of High Street and Wine, Bristol

(looking east towards what is no Castle Park)

Above left from Skelton's Etchings of the Antiquities of Bristol, around 1825. Above right during the Blitz.

John Wesley’s New Room in the Horsefair, Broadmead, Bristol.

This is the earliest purpose-built Methodist meeting room and chapel in the world.

Daniel was a trustee of the New Room in the 1790s.

The memorial in St James church to Daniel his wife and two of their grandchildren.

The semi-detached villas (called Crofton House and The Limes) in Stoke Croft, Bristol,

built by Daniel shortly before his death.