Edward Hamilton Waldo, (Theodore Sturgeon)

1918 - 1985  (67 years)

• Name	Edward Hamilton Waldo
  Suffix	(Theodore Sturgeon)
  Birth	26 Feb 1918	Staten Island, New York, New York   [1, 2, 3, 4]
  Gender	Male
  Death	8 May 1985	Eugene, Lane, Oregon   [1, 4, 5]
  Person ID	I37990	Ancestry of PNH, TNH, and others | Ancestor of TS
  Last Modified	3 Feb 2024

  
  

  Father	Edward Molineux Waldo,   b. 6 Mar 1884, Brooklyn, Kings, New York d. 28 May 1964, Queens, Queens, New York (Age 80 years)
  Mother	Christine Hamilton Dicker,   b. 30 Mar 1897, St. John, New Brunswick, Canada d. 9 Jul 1962, Kingston, Jamaica (Age 65 years)
  Marriage	18 Jul 1915	Buxton, Derbyshire, England   [6]
  SEPA	Abt 1923  [7]
  Family ID	F22323	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  He was born in New York City, as stated in both Continuation of Waldo Genealogy and the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (citation details below), but neither source mentions specifically that he was born on Staten Island. That borough appears occasionally in his fiction, notably the story "Shottle Bop." Continuation of Waldo Genealogy (citation details below) calls him "Theodore Hamilton Sturgeon", but he was born Edward Hamilton Waldo. His name was legally changed to Edward Hamilton Sturgeon at age 11, after his mother's divorce and 1929 remarriage to William Dicky "Argyll" Sturgeon, an event unmentioned in Continuation of Waldo Genealogy. [Source: Adoption record of Edward H. Waldo, now renamed Edward H. Sturgeon, reproduced in the 2013 Open Road Integrated Media e-book edition of Sturgeon's More Than Human.] Sturgeon wrote years later about how his first name subsequently changed from Edward to Theodore: "I was confirmed a year [after the adoption proceedings] as Theodore rather than Edward because my mother told me I didn't like to chance being called Eddy. Hindsight again: I was my father's namesake (he was always Ned, never Ted) and she wanted the crumbs swept out. (Years later when I was having therapy with Milton Kline he asked me with shocking abruptness, 'What ever happened to Edward Waldo?' It was weird. My guts contracted.) Anyway, as far as self-indentification is concerned, I was always Ted or Teddy or, to my mother, Thuddy, no matter what the legal handles were." This is from the posthumously-published chapbook Argyll: A Memoir (Pullman, Washington: The Sturgeon Project, 1993), which consists of a pair of essays in which Sturgeon grapples with his fraught relationship with his stepfather, who by modern standards was obviously a classic abuser. Seventh cousin twice removed to Robert A. Heinlein, via John Hutchins (1604-1685) and his wife Frances (d. 1694). Eighth cousin once removed to Fritz Leiber, via William Allen (1615-1686) and Ann Goodale (1618-1678). Ninth cousin once removed to Damon Knight, through Thomas French (1584-1639) and Susan Riddlesdale (1584-1658); also, the same degree, through Henry Adams (1583-1646) and Edith Squire (1587-1673). Also through Thomas French and Susan Riddlesdale, ninth cousin three times removed to John M. Ford. Also through Henry Adams and Edith Squire, third cousin six times removed to President John Adams; fourth cousin five times removed to President John Quincy Adams; and sixth cousin four times removed to historian Henry Adams. Through shared ancestors William Hunter (1807-1878) and Jane Curling, Theodore Sturgeon was also a second cousin once removed to Elizabeth "Lisba" Curling Hunter (1915-1971), who married Prince Chula Chakrabongse of Thailand (1908-1963), grandson of King Rama V (1853-1910) of Siam. And a third cousin to their daughter Narisa Chakrabongse (1956- ), writer, publisher, and environmental activist. And a third cousin once removed to Narisa Chakranbongse's son Hugo Chakrabongse Levy (1981- ), Thai-American actor, singer, rapper, and songwriter, who performs under the stage names "Hugo" and "Chulachak Chakranbongse." Finally, through their common ancestors Andrew Hunter Dunn, 5th Anglican Bishop of Quebec, and his wife Alice Hunter, Theodore Sturgeon was a first cousin once removed to Joan Hunter Dunn, the inspiration for John Betjeman's much-anthologized 1941 poem "A Subaltern's Love-song."

  
  

• Sources

  [S5237] The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, third edition, ed. John Clute, David Langford, Peter Nicholls (emeritus) and Graham Sleight (managing). 1995-ongoing. [S6423] Continuation of Waldo Genealogy 1900-1943 by Charles S. Waldo. New York: Press of Chas. E. Fitchett, 1943., date only. [S4755] The Internet Science Fiction Database. [S6469] Hunter-Dunn Family Tree, from hunterdunn.com., year only. [S4755] The Internet Science Fiction Database., date only. [S6443] England, Derbyshire, Church of England Parish Registers, 1537-1918, on familysearch.org. [S6468] Argyll: A Memoir by Theodore Sturgeon. Pullman, Washington: The Sturgeon Project, 1993.