[Wadding’s Works; Harold’s Vita, Rome, 1731; Ware’s Works, ed. Harris, 1764; Webb’s Compendium of Irish Biography, 1878; Anderson’s Historical Sketches of the Native Irish, 2nd edit. 1830; Meehan’s Rise and Fall of the Irish Franciscan Monasteries, 4th edit. 1872; O’Shea’s Life of Wadding, 1885.]
WADDING, PETER (1581?–1644), jesuit, born at Waterford in 1581 or 1583, was son of Thomas Wadding and his wife, Mary Vallesia. Both father and mother are said to have been of good family. Luke Wadding [q. v.] was his first cousin. Peter studied humanities for seven years in Ireland, and then proceeded to Douai, where he graduates M.A., and subsequently doctor of both laws as well as of divinity. He was admitted to the Company of Jesus on 24 Oct. 1601 by Father Oliveræus, the provincial of Flanders, and commenced his novitiate at Tournay on 28 Nov. following. Eventually he became professor of theology first at Louvain, and then at Antwerp. While at Antwerp Wadding had a controversy with the famous Arminian Simon Bisscop or Episcopius (1583-1643). The disputations of both were published in Dutch after their death in one volume, entitled ‘Twee brieven van den gelerden Peter Wading in sijn leven Jesuit tot Antwerpen: d’eene, van den Regel des Geloofs; d’andere, van den beeldendienst …’ Amsterdam, 1649, 4to (British Museum). Subsequently Wadding was transferred to Prague, becoming professor of theology and chancellor of the university there. His position involved him in disputes with the archbishop of Prague on the latter's claim to be chancellor of, and to exercise jurisdiction over, the university. On 30 Nov. 1632 Wadding completed a ‘Brevis Refutatio Calumniarum quas Collegio Societatis Jesu Pragensi impegit scriptor famosi libelli cui titulus “Flagellum Jesuitarum,” præsertim in negotio Academiæ Pragnensis…’ Nissa, 1634, 4to. This was followed by a solid work of 656 pages, entitled ‘R. P. Petri Wadingi Waterfordiensis Hibernie Soc. Jesu S. Theologiæ professoris, olim in Lovaniensi nunc in Pragensi Academia professoris Tractatus de Incarnatione,’ Antwerp, 1636, 8vo. In the following year he published an ‘Oratio Pragæ dicta,’ congratulating Ferdinand III on his election as emperor. The last years of his life were spent at Gratz, where also he was professor of theology and chancellor,. He died there on 13 Sept. 1644.
Besides the works mentioned, Wadding’s contemporary fellow Jesuit, Ribadeneira, says he published under a pseudonym, ‘Carmina varia et alia spectantia ad disciplinas humaniores,’ and ‘Tractatus aliquos contra Hæreticos’ (Ribadeneira, Bibl. Scriptt. Soc. Jesu, 1643, p.402). A manuscript volume in the Bodleian Library contains various other treatises by him (Tanner, p.744).
[Works in Brit. Museum Library; Foley’s Collections, vii. 799; Ware’s Irish Writers, ed. Harris; Webb’s Compendium of Irish Biogr.; authorities cited.]
WADDINGTON, CHARLES (1796–1858), major-general Bombay engineers, fifth son of William Waddington of Walkeringham, Nottinghamshire, by his wife, Grace Valentine, daughter of Henry Sykes of London, was born at Brompton on 24 Oct. 1796. After passing through a military college of the East India Company at Addiscombe, he received a commission as a second lieutenant in the Bombay engineers on 3 April 1813, and arrived in India on 22 May 1814, He accompanied Colonel Kennedy’s force to the Concan, and is services at the assaults of Madanghar (eighty miles south-east of Bombay) and of Jamba were favourably mentioned (general orders, 15 Feb. 1818). Towards the end of 1819 he went home on furlough, was promoted to be lieutenant on 16 Nov. 1820, married in 1822, and on his return to India in 1823 acted as executive engineer at Baroda. He was promoted to captain on 29 July 1825, and appointed in October executive engineer of the Baroda subsidiary force. In November 1827 he was moved to Bombay as civil engineer at the presidency, and in August 1828 acted also as superintending engineer. He was appointed to the command of the engineer corps and to take charge of the Engineer Institution in October 1830. In September 1834 he commanded the engineers at Sirur, returning to the presidency as superintending engineer in January 1835.
On 28 June 1838 Waddington was promoted to be major, and in May of the following year was appointed superintending engineer of the southern provinces. In September 1841 he went to Sind as commanding engineer. He accompanied Major-general (afterwards Sir) Richard England in his march through the Bolan pass in the autumn of 1842, and was favourably mentioned in England’s despatch of 10 Oct. 1842 (London Gazette, 10 Jan. 1843) for his services at Haikalzai. On 4 Nov. 1842 he was appointed command engineer in Baluchistan as well as Sind. He accompanied Sir Charles Napier [q. v.] as commanding engineer of his force in the celebrated march of eighty-two miles from Dijikote on 6 Jan, 1843 to Imamghar, where they arrived on the 12th. Instructed
