Walter Boldero Paton (19 April 1853 – 11 February 1937) was an English

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

who also wrote guides to emigration to the British colonies. In his youth, he was a keen

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played for

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in the

1873 FA Cup Final The 1873 FA Cup Final was a football match between Wanderers and Oxford University on 29 March 1873 at Lillie Bridge in London. It was the second final of the world's oldest football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (known i ...

and for England in 1871 in a representative match against Scotland.

Family and education

Paton was born in

Hanover Terrace Hanover Terrace overlooks Regent's Park in City of Westminster, London, England. The terrace is a Grade I listed building. History It was designed by John Nash in 1822. It has a centre and two wing buildings, of the Doric order, the acroterion, ...

in the

Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies of high ground in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the Borough of Camden (and historically betwee ...

area of

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

, London, the youngest son of George Paton, a barrister, and Laura Coore. He was educated at

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

before going up to

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the univer ...

in 1872. He graduated with a BA in 1876 and was awarded his MA in 1879. Paton was married to Adeline Loftus, the daughter of Capt. Arthur John Loftus and Lady Catherine Loftus, who was the daughter of

John Loftus, 2nd Marquess of Ely John Loftus, 2nd Marquess of Ely KP (15 February 1770 – 26 September 1845), styled The Honourable John Loftus from 1785 to 1794 and Viscount Loftus from 1794 to 1806, was a British peer in both the Irish and British peerages. Life He was the ...

. His wife was a

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

from 1889 to 1892. His brother, Frederick Lechmere Paton, was married to Frederica Chenevix Trench, daughter of Maj.-Gen. Frederick Chenevix Trench and granddaughter of

Richard Chenevix Trench Richard Chenevix Trench (Richard Trench until 1873; 9 September 1807 – 28 March 1886) was an Anglican archbishop and poet. Life He was born in Dublin, Ireland, the son of Richard Trench (1774–1860), barrister-at-law, and the Dublin write ...

(1807–1886),

Archbishop of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin is an archepiscopal title which takes its name after Dublin, Ireland. Since the Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: one in the Catholic Church and the other in the Church of Irelan ...

Football career

Paton first made his mark as a footballer during his years at Harrow, becoming team captain. He was still at school, aged only 17 years 214 days, when he was selected to play as a forward for the English XI in a representative match against a Scottish XI on 19 November 1870. In Charles Alcock's ''

Football Annual __NOTOC__ The ''Football Annual'' was a reference work published annually from 1868 to 1908. It reported on the various codes of football played in England, and also provided some coverage of the other home nations, supplemented on occasion by re ...

'', Paton was summed up as "a strong and persevering forward hokeeps side (the wing) well". Later in his career, he was described as "a very pretty dribbler but disinclined to pass the ball; can play extremely well when he likes". In February 1873, he scored one of the goals in a 4–0 victory over

Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England, on the southwestern bank of the River Thames. It had an estimated population of 70,374 and forms part of the border with southern Bu ...

in the Fourth round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

, as a result of which

reached the FA Cup Final at the first attempt. In

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

, the University played the Wanderers who were defending champions and had been given a "bye" direct to the final. Despite having several key players absent, the cup-holders were victorious by a 2–0 margin. Paton again scored for the University in a 4–0 victory in the

First round First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

of the following season's cup tournament, this time against Upton Park although he was not part of the team that won that year's final. He was also a member of the Wanderers club, as well as

Old Harrovians The following is a list of some notable Old Harrovians, former pupils of Harrow School in the United Kingdom. Politicians, civil servants, and royalty Civil servants, intelligence officers, and police *Sir Alex Allan (born 1951), Chairman of ...

and their sister club

Harrow Chequers Harrow Chequers Football Club was a football club from London, England in the 1860s to early 1890s. It played as the Harrow Chequers from 1865 to 1876, when it was then renamed the Old Harrovians, and continued play until at least 1891. Derive ...

Legal career

On leaving university, Paton qualified as a

, becoming a student of the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

on 21 June 1876 and was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

on 25 June 1879. He then practised on the Western Circuit until he retired in 1916.

Publications

He was the author of several publications and guides for emigrants from the United Kingdom to then British colonies, including: * ''State-aided emigration'': published 1885 for the Central Emigration Society. * ''The Handy Guide to Emigration to the British Colonies: Containing the rules and regulations ... and other information useful to emigrants, and to persons sending them out'': published 1886. * ''New Zealand handbook, with map'': published 1908 by the Emigrants' Information Office. * ''South Australia handbook, with map'': published 1908 by the Emigrants' Information Office. * ''Handbooks on Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, with maps'': published 1912 by the Emigrants' Information Office.

Death

Paton died, aged 83, at Stanhope Gardens, Kensington, London, on 11 February 1937.

Sporting honours

Oxford University *

: runners-up

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paton, Walter 1853 births 1937 deaths Alumni of University College, Oxford Men's association football forwards England men's representative footballers (1870–1872) English men's footballers Footballers from the City of Westminster People from Westminster Harrow Chequers F.C. players Oxford University A.F.C. players People educated at Harrow School Wanderers F.C. players