M. J. B. Baddeley

1895 edition of the Thorough Guide to North Wales

Mountford John Byrde Baddeley (1843–1906) was a distinguished English guidebook writer of the late 19th and early 20th century. His guides appeared in the 'Thorough Guide' series, edited by Baddeley and his colleague, Charles Slegg Ward,^[1] and included guides to Scotland (parts I to III: The Highlands; Northern Highlands; The Lowlands; and Orkney & Shetland), Devon and Cornwall (north, and south), the Peak District of Derbyshire, the Eastern Counties, Wales (north Wales, parts I & II; south Wales), Ireland (part I: northern division; part II: southern division), Surrey & Sussex, Yorkshire (parts I & II: East; West), Bath and Bristol and 40 miles round, Isle of Wight. (These volumes were numbered I - XIX and had appeared by 1908. They included "maps by Bartholomew" and were published by Thomas Nelson & Sons, London.)^[2]

Biographical summary

Baddeley was born in Rocester, Staffordshire in 1843, the son of a solicitor. He was educated at King Edwards School, Birmingham and Clare College, Cambridge. He then worked as a classics master at Somersetshire College, Bath and Sheffield Grammar School (1880-1884) before retiring from teaching and moving to the Lake District, first to Windermere and then Bowness-on-Windermere.^[3] As well as writing guide books, he was an active member of the Lake District Association.^[4] He married Millicent Satterthwaite Yeates in 1891. There were no children. .

Lake District guide

His Lake District guide (entitled 'Thorough Guide to the English Lake District', first edition, Dulau & Co, 1880) was particularly highly thought of. It continued to be revised and reissued, and remained in print into at least a 26th edition (1978, edited by R. J. W. Hammond).

The guidebook was largely text-based, with maps by John Bartholomew. Compared with later photographic volumes directed mainly at rock-climbers and hill-walkers, produced by the Abraham Brothers and by W. A. Poucher, and the highly detailed hand-illustrated guides of Alfred Wainwright, Baddeley's guide was more general, giving motoring and accommodation advice and low-level walks as well as outline guides to walks on the fells.

Other works

Baddeley also wrote a Latin coursebook for schools entitled Auxilia Latina (1875).

Legacy

Baddeley is commemorated by the 'Baddeley clock' in Windermere

References

1. Baddeley held a B.A. degree and Ward an M.A.
2. Ward, C. S. & Baddeley, M. J. B. (1908) South Devon ... and South Cornwall ...; 7th ed. London: Nelson
3. Cambridge University Alumni
4. various records in British Newspaper Archive

Further reading

List of Thorough Guides

Edited by Badderly and C.S. Ward

England

• C.S. Ward (1886), The Eastern Counties, Thorough Guides (2nd ed.), London: Dulau & Co.
  • 1883 ed. + index
• Mountford John Byrde Baddeley (1880), English Lake District, London: Dulau & Co.
  • Mountford John Byrde Baddeley (1902), English Lake District (9th ed.), London: Dulau & Co.
• Charles Slegg Ward (1888), North Devon and North Cornwall (4th ed.), Dulau & Co.
  • Charles Slegg Ward (1897), North Devon and North Cornwall, Thorough Guides (7th ed.), Dulau & Co.
• Mountford John Byrde Baddeley (1913), The Peak District of Derbyshire and the neighbourhood (10th ed.), London: Nelson
• Mountford John Byrde Baddeley (1889), South Devon, including W. Dorset coast, and South Cornwall with a full description of Dartmoor and the Scilly Isles (3rd ed.), London: Dulau & Co., OCLC 42665430
• Charles Slegg Ward (1897), Surrey and Sussex: Including Tumbridge Wells, Dulau & Co., OCLC 84582904
• Mountford John Byrde Baddeley (1897). Yorkshire (Part 2): West and Part of North Ridings. Thorough Guides (3rd ed.). London: Dulau & Co.

Ireland

• Mountford John Byrde Baddeley (1890), Ireland (part I) (2nd ed.), London: T. Nelson and Sons
  • Mountford John Byrde Baddeley (1909), Ireland (part I) (6th ed.), London: T. Nelson and Sons, OCLC 4605342
• Charles Slegg Ward (1888), Ireland (part II), London: Dulau & Co.
  • Charles Slegg Ward (1906), Ireland (part II), London: Dulau & Co., OCLC 2095945

Scotland

• Scotland (part 1), Dulau & Co., 1885
  • Scotland (part 1), Dulau & Co., 1905
• Highlands of Scotland (2nd ed.), Dulau & Co., 1883
  • Northern Highlands: Scotland (part 2) (6th ed.), Dulau & Co., 1901
• Scotland (part 3).

Wales

• Mountford John Byrde Baddeley (1887), North Wales (part 1) (3rd ed.), London: Dulau & Co., OCLC 13016093
• North Wales (part 2).
• South Wales and the Wye.