Charles, known locally as The Squire, was an extraordinary chap with views on conservation and wildlife that was very much out of step with his Victorian contemporaries. He lived in the small Yorkshire village of Walton, only a few miles from our distillery, and travelled all over the world studying plants and animals, very much like a 19th century David Attenborough.

In fact Mr Attenborough cites Charles Waterton as huge influence in shaping his own career and Waterton’s writings were also studied by a certain Charles Darwin.

Charles was a pioneer of conservation, he fought a local soap manufacturer that was polluting nearby waterways with harmful chemicals and as a result had the factory relocated! He also created the World’s first nature reserve at his home in Yorkshire where he settled with his native American wife and often patrolled his grounds personally to protect the resident wildlife from local poachers.