Mr. Todd Walton the second counted amongst his contemporaries and personal friends those Post Office literary stars, Anthony Trollope and Edmund Yates.
Mr. Walton retired from the Post Office in 1871. His death occurred at the Clifton Down Hotel on the morning of Christmas day, 1885. He was in the act of dressing to attend the early morning service at All Saints' Church, when he fell into a fit of apoplexy, from which he did not rally. The Times and Mirror of January 2nd, 1886, gives the following memoir of him:—"The death of this estimable gentleman calls for more particular notice than the necessarily brief one given in last Saturday's impression; for although Mr. Walton had for some time past ceased to be a citizen of Bristol, he continued to feel an interest in the old city and its surroundings, and was remembered by many Bristolians as one who had obtained, as he deserved, their affectionate esteem. Succeeding his father—a gentleman of the 'old school'—as postmaster of Bristol, Mr. Todd Walton, through the long series of years in which he occupied that public position, evinced unwearied industry, keen intelligence, and
singular courtesy in discharging the multifarious duties connected with it, and when on his retirement (carrying with him into private life the respect of his fellow-citizens) he was called upon to fulfil the duties of High Sheriff of Bristol, those duties were discharged by him for two years successively in a manner distinguished by great public spirit and generous hospitality. He was a man of considerable culture and taste, an extensive reader, and a reader who, happily, remembered what he had read. He possessed also a sense of humour and a ready wit which made him an agreeable and intelligent companion; whilst to those who enjoyed his friendship he was ever a friend, courteous and kind. Blessed with abundant means, he helped without ostentation the poor and needy, many of whom in our own city will share in the general regret his loss has occasioned."
In the centre of the church garden at All Saints', Clifton, stands a cross, which Mrs. Walton erected in 1888 to the memory of her husband. It was designed by Mr. J. L. Pearson, R.A. It is of granite, and stands on three steps. In the centre of the shaft is a figure of the Good Shepherd, and
at the top are four sculptures, beautifully executed, of the Annunciation, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, and the Ascension. Over these rises a crocketed finial, and the whole is surmounted by a cross. At the base are inscribed the words: "In loving memory of Thomas Todd Walton, sometime churchwarden of the Church of All Saints, and a most generous benefactor to that church."
By the death of Edward Chadwick Sampson, the next postmaster, which occurred at Clevedon, December 7th, 1895, the Post Office lost one of its most gentlemanly and genial pensioners.
Edward Chaddock Sampson.
Postmaster of Bristol, 1871-1891.
From a photograph by Mr. Abel Lewis, Bristol.
For many years postmaster of Bristol, Mr. Sampson was well known throughout the city, and held in high esteem by all with whom he was brought into contact. He had a long service in the postal department, dating, as it did, from 1837 to the last day of 1891. In 1837 he began his connection with the Bristol Post Office. He went to Manchester as chief clerk in 1865, but was away only six years, and returned in 1871 to assume the postmastership of his native city. It is interesting, as showing the enormous increase in the postal traffic, to recall the fact that when Mr. Sampson