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, 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.)

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. As well as writing guide books, he was an active member of the Lake District Association. 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

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.