William Rutson

Son of the Liverpool merchant William Calton Rutson (d. c.1817) of Ewart Rutson, a predecessor of the firm Ewart Myers (q.v.), and grandson of the slave-trader William Rutson (1738-1793). Left £120,000 in 1867.

1. Adm. Fell.-Com. at TRINITY, Nov. 7, 1809. [Only s. of William Calton, of Liverpool and Allerton Priory, Lancs., merchant (and Frances, only child of Simon Wrather). B. Oct. 17, 1791.] Matric. Michs. 1810; B.A. 1814; M.A. 1817. Of Newby Wiske and Nunnington, Yorks. J.P. and D.L. for the North Riding of Yorks. High Sheriff, 1850. Married, Feb. 17, 1825, Charlotte Mary, dau. of William Ewart, of Mossley Hill, Liverpool. Died May 11, 1867. Father of the two above [i.e. John and Henry Rutson]. (Burke, L.G.).

2. William Rutson purchased Nunnington Hall in North Yorkshire in 1839 for £152,388. It was used as the family hunting lodge. His great-niece Margaret Rutson bequeathed the property to the National Trust in 1952.

National Probate Calendar 1867; Ellison Thomas The cotton trade of Great Britain: including a history of the Liverpool cotton market and of the Liverpool Cotton Brokers Association p. 187 identifies 'William Rutson' [i.e. William Calton Rutson] of Ewart Rutson as the son of Mr Rutson of 'the old firm of Backhouse and Rutson, African traders [sic].'

1. Ancestry.com, Cambridge University Alumni, 1261-1900 [database online].

2. Email from Jonathan Wallis, 30/6/2019 sourced to National Trust guidebook to Nunnington Hall (2010).

We are grateful for the help of Audrey Dewjee and Jonathan Wallis with this entry.