1111) Rev: Charles MATURIN, eldest son of Gabriel James. Born in Co. Down, probably at Garvaghy Vicarage, in 1729, he received his education from Dr Gast (a Dr Gast was Archdeacon of Glendalough who died in 1788) who also acted as his “pensioner” when he entered Trinity College Dublin on 22 August 1746 at the age of 17. His father had been elected to the Deanery of St Patrick’s in November 1745 but died on 9 November 1746. Charles graduated with a B.A. in Vernal (spring) term 1751 and received his M.A. in Æstiva (summer) 1754. He was ordained deacon at Swords parish church by the Archbishop of Dublin in June 1754 and was ordained priest in St.Patrick’s Cathedral on Sunday, 22nd December of the same year. Three months later he succeeded Archdeacon Wall as Vicar of Emlaghfad (i.e.Ballymote) in the Diocese of Achonry. In 1757 an indenture appeared between the Bishop of Killala and himself, granting him a glebe of twenty acres. In 1765 Maturin mortgaged
“all the tithes, rents and issues that should arise out of the several parishes of Emlaghfad, Tooomsur, Kilmorgon, Drumnet and Kilturraugh with the glebe-lands of Emlaghfad to John Keogh of Dublin.”
He officiated at a few baptisms and burials in 1762 and 1763 but thereafter his name disappears from the Emlaghfad Register.
In June 1765 he was presented to the livings of Carrick, Rathdrummin and Port in the Diocese of Armagh. In about 1766 he married Elizabeth Denson, the daughter of Henry Denson and his wife Edith. Their first son Gabriel was born in about 1767 (an IGI Ancestral File says in Bath, Somerset but this must be treated with reserve) Henry at Prussia Street, Dublin on 17 September 1771, Mary in about 1773, twins Anne and Margaret baptised at St Anne’s, Dublin 12 September 1774 and Emma Maria who was buried at St Anne’s on 30 January 1780. Elizabeth “a poetess” is also recorded as a daughter. John Cartland declares that Gabriel was described in “a deed as the twin eldest son” but whether to a brother or a sister is unstated.
Charles died at Prussia Street, Dublin in 1776. Will dated May 8 1776; proved March 12 1778. His name occurs in the Register of Deeds in connection with various pecuniary transactions between 1760 and 1766, in one of which (1760) he is described as “of Prussia Street, Dublin” - in another (1765) he is joined with his mother (who is named Maria Maturin) in a conveyance of land for £2000, - and in another (1766) as “Rector of the United Parishes of Rathencarrick, Co. Louth, to George Cartland of Ballykinnen, King’s Co. Mortgage tithes, consideration £200.”
Elizabeth almost immediately remarried, in about 1777 George Cartland (born in about 1735, Scholar, T.C.D. 1756. B.A. Vern: 1758. M.A. Æst: 1767) who was a barrister in Dublin. They had a son, George Gibson Cartland, who was born in about 1778. Elizabeth was widowed for the second time when George died in 1790 / 92 and she moved to 18 Dawson Street, Dublin where she became a wholesale wine merchant (J Cartland note).
At this point the convolutions of family relationships become tortuous. Elizabeth took the 11 year old Norbury Phillips as a lodger and as a student for her son second Henry. Norbury’s father was Molesworth Phillips who, born in Swords, Co. Dublin, 15 August 1755, in 1782 had married Susan Burney (the sister of Fanny Burney). Phillips, was a Royal Marines officer who had been with Captain Cook on his second and third journeys and played a heroic part in the incident in the Sandwich Islands in 1779 at which Cook met his death; Susan's brother James was on the same expedition and was a close friend. After their marriage they lived in the country, from 1784 at Mickleham, Surrey, where their three children were born (Fanny (Frances 1782 - 1860), Norbury (Charles Norbury, 1785-1814) and Willy (John William James 1791 -1832 when a postscript in a letter from Anne Augusta Maturin noted in July 1833 that at "the death of poor William Phillips he left all property derivable from his ship to his niece Minette")).
In a letter dated 7 November 1796 to her sister Fanny, Susan Phillips describes her arrival in Dublin;
' .. we arrived between 4 and 5 at Mrs Cartland's ..... she received us most hospitably and her 4 daughters seemed all curious to see Norbury's mother ..... It is a fine family and appears a remarkably affectionate one.... there are 3 sons ..... the eldest is settled at some distance from Dublin. Mr Henry Maturin, Norbury's Master is only 3 or 4 and twenty and already a fellow of the college, and there is a son of about 17 whose name (?) is Cartland by a second marriage .... I will tell you more of them another time, but I will not defer saying that I very much like the family and am more than satisfied with the manner in which my Norbury is treated .... they are all extremely fond of him: yet not willing to spoil him or to passover anything he says or does amiss. He had returned shortly after his Papa was gone and was in ecstasy of joy I was told at hearing we were arrived, and so eager to meet with us Mrs Cartland had permitted her son George to set out with him for the Marine Hotel, in the way we had missed.'
By 1787 the marriage had begun to deteriorate, and it had all but collapsed by 1795, when in June of that year, worried about the deteriorating political situation in Ireland and the threat of French invasion, Phillips decided to give up the house at Mickleham and to live on his Irish estate at Belcotton, near Drogheda, Co Louth; he had already placed Norbury with a private tutor, Henry Maturin, in Dublin. Susan was left behind to manage as best she could with the other two children, and lodged with her brothers James and Charles in turn. In the following summer Phillips returned to London, now insisting that Susan should accompany him back to Ireland and live with him at Belcotton. She did so very much against her will, in the knowledge that if she refused she would probably never see her children again. Here, lonely, virtually abandoned by her husband (who by this time was openly conducting an affair with his distant cousin but near neighbour, Jane Brabazon), cut off from contact with her family and friends, and in poor health, she lived at Belcotton until almost the end of her life.
By 1799 members of her family realised the full gravity of Susan's situation, and in the autumn were finally successful in persuading Phillips to allow her to return to England. She left Belcotton with Fanny and Willy in early December, by now in very poor health. On arriving in Dublin she had to take to her bed, and was not able to continue her journey until the end of the month. After a crossing of the Irish sea she landed at Parkgate (the alternative port to Holyhead for crossings to and from Ireland, on the Dee estuary near Chester) at the end of December. Her brother Charles was despatched to meet her and bring her home to London, but it was too late. She died at Parkgate on 6 January 1800.
Excerpts from Susan’s immense correspondence and the above biography are available athttp://www.nottingham.ac.uk/hrc/projects/burney/family.phtml. and a Google search on “Molesworth Phillips” is rewarding.
On 4 October 1800 at 45 he married the 26 year old Anne Maturin, (Gabriel and Henry’s young sister, twin to Margaret).
The Dictionary of National Biography records him as brevet-major, 1794; brevet-lieutenant-colonel 1798; resided at Boulogne till after the French Revolution and on returning to France in 1802 was seized by Napoleon and detained until 1814; became acquainted with Charles Lamb and his friends. He died of cholera in his home in Lambeth in September 1832.
The Phillips family was closely allied to the Shirleys. Gabriel (Charles’ eldest son) married Anne Augusta Shirley after his first wife, Jane Cudmore, died. Anne Augusta’s brother, Walter, was a close friend of Gabriel’s brother Henry. Gabriel and Anne’s fifth child, Washington Shirley Maturin, married Elizabeth Phillips (“daughter of Col. Phillips” who was born in 1805) at the British Embassy, Paris in 1836.
11111) Gabriel MATURIN, elder son of Rev. Charles and grandson of Dean Gabriel James Maturin was born in 1767. He was brought up in Dublin and entered Trinity College on 2 January 1785 aged 18, noted as a pensioner and schooled by “Mr Ford”. He became a scholar in 1787 and graduated with a B.A. in the summer of 1789 (1). Meanwhile his younger brother, Henry, entered Trinity at the age of 16 in January 1786 and chased Gabriel through the College becoming a scholar in 1788 and graduating in the summer of 1790. Henry was undoubtedly a brilliant scholar, destined for the church. The comparison may have dimmed Gabriel’s ambitions.
There is no evidence that Gabriel considered the Church as a career but there is a later indication that he may have had some legal training (2). It is also possible that when he graduated he, or others close to him, thought he might consider teaching as a copy of Roger Ascham’s "The Schoolmaster" (John Upton's edition of 1789) has the title page with a manuscript inscription "ex libris Gabrielis Maturin” (3).
Gabriel and his brother Henry moved in a controversial set in Dublin. Henry had been made a Fellow at Trinity in 1792 at the age of 21. He was also a chaplain to the College chapel, but he associated with Walter Shirley (1768-1859), son of Walter Shirley, the Rector of Loughrea. Walter Shirley senior (1726-86) was out on the evangelical wing of the Church and very close to the Methodists who were at that time challenging the established church; he was a younger brother of the 4th, 5th and 6th Earls Ferrers and first cousin to the Countess of Huntingdon (who established the Huntingdon Connection in opposition to Charles Wesley's version of Methodism - and lost). The strong, zealous faith of the Shirleys was shared by Walter junior’s sister, Anne Augusta (1775-1855). John Walker (1767-1833), graduated at Trinity in 1790 and became increasingly Calvinistic, eventually taking his splinter group of Walkerites to London. Thomas Kelly, also at Trinity from 1785 to 1789, is renowned as a prolific writer of hymns whose evangelical zeal led to him being banned from the Church of Ireland.
Walker, Kelly, Henry and Walter Shirley junior formed an energetic quartet which made itself so popular with its evangelical sermons, attracting enormous congregations to its forthright presentations of the Gospel, that in 1797 the Bishop of Dublin banned all of them from preaching in his diocese. Shortly afterwards Henry abandoned Dublin and his Fellowship at Trinity College to take an appointment in the far north of Donegal, riding through the tensions leading up to the 1798 rebellion to the poorest parish in Ireland on Fannet Head where the rector had just been murdered by rebels: he stayed there until he died 44 years later. The Dublin quartet broke up; Kelly established his own church in Athy, Co Kildare - the Kellyites; Walter became curate at Westport, well out harm’s way in Co. Mayo; Walker preached his ultra-strict Calvinism in Dublin until 1804 when he was expelled from his connections with Trinity and he departed for new pastures in London - where Gabriel caught up with him 25 years later.
On 14 March 1793 a marriage licence was issued for Gabriel and Jane CUDMORE, the daughter of Captain John Cudmore F.I.C.E (4). The marriage was short-lived. Richard Cudmore Maturin (of Charlotte Street) was buried at St. Peters, Aungier Street on 29 September 1794 (5). Jane made her will on 23 March 1795; it was proved on 11 May 1798.
Ireland was straining at change. Catholic insurrection had been simmering for a year before 1798 and had frightened many. Great uncertainty had been created by the threatened Act of Union, which would abolish the Irish Parliament and take direct rule to London; it had been fiercely debated for years before being finally passed in 1801.
In Westport, on 25 November 1797, Gabriel was married to Anne Augusta SHIRLEY by her brother Walter. The couple left for England almost immediately and their first son, Charles Henry, was born in Bath on 4 September 1799 (6). Walter and Alicia Shirley with their baby son Walter Augustus (born 30 May 1797) also fled Westport for Derbyshire as the tensions rose. Brother and sister maintained a correspondence for the rest of their lives, though much of that was from Anne Augusta reminding Walter that her dividends from the tontine invested in by their father had been delayed - again.
The young family was at Orlingbury, Northamptonshire in August 1800 when their second son George Browne was born. It must be that by 1804 Gabriel and Augusta had formulated the strategy to have their two elder boys admitted to Eton and set on the path to Kings College, Cambridge and careers in the Church. In July of that year, to the surprise of the minister, both boys walked in to the College Church at Eton for what must have been a second baptism. A Memorandum was inserted in the register, at Gabriel’s request, giving the dates and places of birth together with a comment that “From the size of the children, J H Blenkinsop should think Mr Maturin’s account probable” (8). It is surmised that baptisms in the College chapel would overcome any problems which might be encountered when the boys presented their certificates to qualify as “Collegers” at Eton. In the baptism register Gabriel described himself as a “private tutor”.
The class sizes at the college were so large that little could be learned by individuals and many parents paid for extra tuition, often from assistant masters at the College, but at this time also from individuals who set up rooms and student lodgings in town. These tutors had no status with the College and no records of them were kept but wealthy and aristocratic families would automatically engage an exclusive private tutor. (9)
In 1440 King Henry VI had founded Eton College and endowed that with 12 places at his new foundation at King’s College, Cambridge. For King Henry the function of the Cambridge College was to pray for his soul and supply clergy to churches throughout his realm who would do likewise; until the 1860's all entrants to King's were exclusively from Eton. Kings Scholars at Eton College were elected annually, generally at the end of July or beginning of August, when 12 of the head boys were put on the roll to succeed to King’s College, Cambridge as places became available; there were about 9 vacancies in two years on average but at 19 years old the Scholars became too old to take a place. The 12 Scholars automatically became “Collegers”, i.e. the 70 pupils who lived in Hall with board and education covered by their Scholarship, as opposed to “Oppidans” who were pupils who lived as boarders with either families, often of assistant masters, or in “Dame” houses in the town, only went to classes in the College and had to pay for everything.
The family remained in Eton until around 1814 with Gabriel described as a private tutor on the baptism registrations for:
both Henrietta Georgiana and William Francis on 23 October 1804
Gabriel James on 5 October 1810
and Walter Augustus on 9 June 1812
For the baptism of Frances Charlotte on 15 June 1814 the family had moved to Upton cum Chalvey (8). Willow Brook Place was close to the ancient St Lawrence’s church south of Slough and a mile or so across the meadows from Eton. Gabriel is described as a “gentleman”; perhaps he no longer had to take in schoolboy boarders.
Charles Henry went up to Kings College in April 1819, graduated in 1823, received his MA and was ordained as deacon in 1826. George Browne followed him in July 1820, graduating in 1825.
Charles’ ordination may have been a turning point for the family. Gabriel's sister, Anne, lived in Paris having married and been deserted by a ne'er-do-well hero, Lt Col Molesworth Phillips (a cousin of Anne Augusta who had sailed with Captain Cook and was lionised when he took revenge on Cook’s assassin in Hawaii; he had been made a widower with the convenient death of his first wife, Susannah Burney, the sister of the novelist Fanny Burney). France was the fashionable place to be. By December 1826 Gabriel and Anne Augusta had moved the Maturin family to Paris where Gabriel and Charles established a school to tutor the sons of the well-to-do and ambitious British who scented rich pickings as France recovered from defeat at Waterloo.
It is not certain if Charles Henry's younger brother, William, had already joined the Royal Navy but he attended the Commission des Récompenses Nationale in Paris in an official capacity as well as having a sideline acting as agent, brokering bills for the impecunious aristocracy.
Walter Augustus Shirley (the future Bishop of Sodor and Man, son of the evangelical Walter of Dublin and Westport and therefore nephew of Anne Augusta) visited the family in Paris in December 1826 at the start of his Grand Tour. In his letter home he says "The Maturins were extremely kind and useful - they live in a very scrambling manner, but not with much intentional extravagance . The eldest son (Charles Henry) was there, & his intended wife- he is clever and genteel, but I do not think him particularly pleasing - his lady is very frothy & amiable - the daughter of a good honest miller in Warwickshire her name is Lucy - The third son William is in some office in Paris, & pleased me much. Walter is good natured, but rather a pickle - There is also a very nice clever little girl about 11 years of age - Mrs Maturin looks thin and aged - Mr Maturin is very plausible - he gives me the idea of a man who really would have been a kind thoughtful man of talents if he had not brought himself into circumstances which rendered it expedient for him to leave off wearing a conscience - with the most pious intention, no doubt , of resuming it at some more convenient season - I was grieved to put myself under such obligations to him, but really could not help it." (10).
Charles’ literary style is evident in his publicity for the Paris school in 1829:
In Paris, the French language is acquired in all its purity, and with the best accent, in a shorter time and with greater ease than elsewhere. … There is now a classical school established in Paris by an English clergyman, (the Rev. Charles Maturin, of No. 18, aux Thermes, Barrier du Roule, Paris) educated at Eton, and a Fellow of a College in Cambridge. … He has adopted the system of Eton … with such changes and additions as the difference of local circumstances have led him to approve for the … improvement of his pupils, whose number he limits to twenty. His father also, who has been distinguished by high University honours, and resided as Tutor above twelve years at Eton, is his chief assistant - while all that devolves upon female care … is secured by the superintendance of his mother and sisters. (11)
It wasn’t straightforward running a business with distinguished customers. Both Gabriel and Charles were recorded as living in Paris when, in a court case heard in London on 30 June 1830, they pursued a failed money-order from a fashionable pupil, James William Poyntz. The young man of 21 had an allowance of £400 a year from his father, Admiral Poyntz, but had run up debts of £1700. He was later declared bankrupt but that did not help the Maturins with their failed £30 promissory note (the equivalent of about £1200 now).
But that city was a dangerous place to be; in July 1830 a violent mini-revolution forced Charles X to abdicate and flee to England to be replaced by Louis-Philippe. Anne Augusta wrote from Paris to her brother, Walter, in September 1830 thanking him for the invitation to give them a “resting place” “should we be driven hence by either storm or calamity”. The country was in turmoil and “many think a foreign war inevitable in order to prevent one at home”. Her son William, in his duties at the Commission des Récompenses Nationale, related the report of a child of 13 taking his musket to the street fighting and getting shot and sabred in consequence (12). In 1831 and '32 Hugo's Les Miserables rebellion was brewing. The family returned to London in late 1831.
Gabriel renewed his acquaintance with John Walker from Dublin. Walker had been recruited to teach at the London University School which was set up by the newly established University of London. That first College in England to challenge the ancient traditions at Oxford and Cambridge was based on secular principles but was then suffering a financially disastrous shortfall in the numbers of students. The School was founded to supply students to the University. It was to follow a similar non-religious path to the new University with a traditional classical education, include modern languages (unusually German as well as French), fencing, gymnastics and dancing - but corporal punishment was not permitted. In 1831 Walker succeeded briefly to the appointment as Headmaster following intense disagreement between his predecessor, the Rev Henry Browne, and the School’s Council over a number of matters including a veto on the introduction of daily prayers. That October, as required by the Council, Walker took responsibility for the lease of 16 Gower Street in his own name. To keep an arm’s length from financial expense or liability the Council delegated appointment and payment of assistant masters to Walker. The salaries were to be paid from the students fees so that the school became effectively his business. Among others he appointed Gabriel and Charles to assist with the 130 boys. Unfortunately he had not informed the School’s Council that he had a history of bankruptcy from an 1825 venture in Kennington as a schoolmaster and bookseller and that his business associates and sureties for the lease on Gower Street were two notorious bankrupts, the Pike brothers (13). Walker was stubborn and refused to go as he had not received his proper six-months notice. The Council could not remove him as the lease did not expire until Lady Day 1832. He determined to stay in the premises as an independent foundation.
Walker was determined to make mischief. In January a series of advertisements in The Times for “The University School” at Gower Street announced that with John Walker as headmaster, Rev. Charles Maturin was the Vice-Master and Gabriel the First Classical Assistant Master. Gabriel also offered boarding for pupils under 10 at 60 guineas per annum or 70 guineas for the over 10s, including school fees of £15. These facilities were offered in The Times through January and February. In March the announcement was published that on Monday 19 March the school would move to Tavistock House, Tavistock Square and be renamed The London High School.
The further story of London High School belongs to Charles Henry (below) who was described as Headmaster after 29 July 1833. From that date Walker was still listed as either a Classics or Mathematics Master but may have decided that having a newly-ordained Reverend headmaster was more impressive to prospective clients when his bankruptcy was about to become public knowledge again with proceedings eventually Gazetted on 13 May 1834. Gabriel continued to be listed in advertisements as the Classical Assistant until May 1834, though there had been an urgent appeal in The Times on 17 December 1833 for a “graduate of Oxford or Cambridge, who has taken honours, to fill one of the classical desks”.
In July 1833 Anne Augusta reported to her brother that Gabriel had been very concerned for his own health after being "seized in a most frightful and alarming manner with a tendency of blood to the head” followed by a “severe fit of the gout …. which he still feels” (14). He was 66.
Walker returned to Ireland in 1833 and died in Dublin shortly afterwards. In advertisements for the London High School in November 1835 the Rev. J W Niblock had taken over as headmaster and there is no mention of any other staff. Charles was appointed to be Classical Master in the Birmingham and Edgbaston Proprietary School in December 1837 By 1838 Gabriel and Anne Augusta had also settled in George Street, Edgbaston, Birmingham. George Street is marked on the 1841 map (15), now renamed “George Road”, a matter of yards from Five Ways where Broad Street meets Hagley Road, the site of the newly built Proprietary School. Even now the remaining Georgian houses indicate that this was an area which would have appealed to the standards desired by the niece of the 6th Earl Ferrers. The house had sufficient accommodation for the whole family. The 1841 census lists a teacher, five pupils and two servants living there in addition to Anne, Augusta and Ellen. The extra income will doubtless have been welcome.
In a letter to her brother, Walter, that October it appears that Gabriel had been ailing for some while as Anne merely adds a postscript to the major items of family news and an enquiry for the tontine dividend - “Maturin continues much the same, he is waiting with longing desire for his release” (16).
From the letter on 15 July 1839 to Walter it appears that Gabriel had suffered a stroke as Anne observes “I have reason to be thankful that my health and strength have been such as to enable me to give every necessary attention day and night to my poor sufferer, who under all changes of season drags on but a miserable existence, he who was the life and and amusement of the society in which he mixed could now only cast a shade of sorrow and regret over those who most admired and esteemed him - Yet I hear of Lord Derby who is fifteen years older, and whose life was for a long time despaired of, now quite recovered with the exception of a slight lameness.” (17) Life cannot have been made any easier by the threat from a major riot by the Chartists only a mile and a half away in Birmingham’s Bull Ring on 15 July, and notice being given of their intention destroy Edgbaston and specifically to burn down the house next door and Mr Lucy’s mill that evening. That violence was prevented by military intervention. Mr Lucy is very likely to have been related to the “frothy and amiable” miller’s daughter affianced to Charles Henry, referred to in the letters from Walter Augustus Shirley in Paris in 1826 (10).
All Gabriel’s children gathered at George Street for Christmas 1839. His “sister … with her two daughters” were there as well; by implication this must be his sister Anne Phillips with Elizabeth - (who married his son Washington in Paris in 1836) and an unnamed second daughter. Charles Henry was living at home. Gabriel James had returned from his Spanish adventures and may well have already taken up a posting with the Birmingham Police as his daughter Ellen was in the household in 1841. It is perhaps unlikely that William’s naval duties would have allowed him to be there. George Browne, Henrietta and Walter had all died. Anne wrote to her brother Walter reporting that in a quiet moment alone with her Gabriel had said “well I have seen all my family once more and I am thankful to God for it, and now the sooner my summons comes the better” (18). On 13 February 1840 that wish was granted but only after another two months intense suffering.
Gabriel’s death seemed to be another turning point for the family. Gabriel James was at his father’s bedside as he expired; the 1841 census records Gabriel James in the barracks at No.2 Police Station and shortly afterwards he received promotion to sub-intendant in the Birmingham Police, remaining with that force until at least 1844. While one came back another two left the family home. Frances Charlotte married John Fulton in Kings Norton Registry Office, Birmingham on 13 May 1841 and moved to Scotland. By September (1840) Charles Henry had secured the post of Senior Proctor at Cambridge and returned to the University where he had been a Fellow of Kings College since 1822. His teaching career may well have been influenced by his father as it seemed to be a life of continual movement, responding to Gabriel’s whim as old connections were exploited in Paris, London and possibly Birmingham as well. When there was no further obligation Charles left education to resume his Fellowship at Kings and pursue his vocation in the Church. The 1841 census notes him as living the cloistered bachelor life in College and he remained at Cambridge until being presented to be Vicar of Ringwood and Rector of Harbridge, Hampshire in 1845.
Anne Augusta, her daughter Augusta and grand-daughter Ellen moved to the Vicarage in Ringwood.
1) Alumni Dublinenses, Burchell & Sadlier 1924 p563
2) Deed Book B at Delaware County Clerk’s Office, Delhi, New York State p 355 http://www.dcnyhistory.org/deedsbookB.html. The deed dated 11 Dec 1806 was for the sale of a New York land investment of Captain Gabriel (1112). Gabriel is described as being “of the Middle Bar” and “lawful constituted attorney” of his sister Anne and her husband Molesworth Phillips.
3) Dean Gabriel James died in 1746 so that this copy cannot have been in his library. It is now held in the Special Collections at Michigan State University. The date of its publication coincides with Gabriel’s graduation.
4) Rev Edmund Maturin’s Pedigree, family archive. The connotation of “F.I.C.E.” is unclear.
5) Register of St Peter’s, Aungier Street, Dublin
6) An affidavit held by Eton College affirms that birthdate in Bath but on the Roll of Scholars that is recorded as 4 November. The College archivist observes that the date of baptism was often used in that Roll - which then leaves a question mark about the second baptism in 1804. Personal message from P Hatfield, College Archivist January 2002.
7) ibid - another affidavit from Anne Augusta’s mother, Alicia, confirms that George Browne was born at Orlingbury, Northants on 21 August 1800, though the baptism certificate in 1804 states 16 August.
8) Register of baptisms - Buckingham Record Office, Aylesbury.
9) Eton College Archivist January 2002
10) Letters from Walter Augustus Shirley to his parents in Ashbourne - 7 Dec 1826 (in Leicester Record Office 22D64/43) and 18 Dec 1826 (LRO 22D64/45)
11) Advertisement in The Age, on 15 November 1829 (London).
12) Letter from Anne Augusta Maturin in Paris to Rev. Walter Shirley at Winster Hall, Derbyshire 20 September 1830 (in Leicester Record Office DE2638/60/1)
13) Victorian Bloomsbury, Rosemary Ashton, Yale University Press p 99
14) Letter from Anne Augusta Maturin 19 July 1833 post marked L (presumably London) to Alicia Shirley (wife of her brother Walter) at Winster Hall (in Leicester Record Office DE2638/60/2)
15) “Davies's new map of Birmingham ..” published 1841, Birmingham Central Library, Archives and Heritage section
16) Letter from Anne Augusta Maturin postmarked Birmingham 28 October 1838 to Rev. Walter Shirley at Winster Hall (in Leicester Record Office DE2638/60/3)
17) Letter from Anne Augusta Maturin 15 July 1839 (marked 21 July) to Rev. Walter Shirley at Winster Hall (in Leicester Record Office DE2638/60/4)
18) Letter from Anne Augusta Maturin postmarked Birmingham 10 March 1840 to Rev. Walter Shirley at Brailsford Rectory (in Leicester Record Office DE2638/60/5)
The family of Gabriel and Augusta was:-
111111) Rev Charles Henry Maturin, was born in Bath on 4 September 1799: he is referred to in this way to avoid confusion with his grandfather, Charles, and his second cousin, Charles Robert, the author of Gothic Tragedies including Melmoth the Wanderer.
Charles Henry and his brother George Browne were christened at the ages of 4 and 5, to the surprise of the incumbent when he saw them walking into Eton church, on 27 July 1804. It is surmised that this may have been a second baptism and a ploy to ease the boys' admittance to Eton as "Oppidans" in April 1808.
Affidavits (6 & 7 above) regarding birth and baptism were required for both Charles Henry and George Browne when they were elected as King's Scholars in September 1812.
Charles Henry went up to Cambridge on 28 April 1819, matriculated at Easter 1819, was elected a Fellow in 1822, received his B.A. in 1823 and M.A. in 1826 He was also ordained deacon at Ely in 1826.
There is no further mention of Charles' marriage to the frothy Miss Lucy mentioned in the letter from Walter Augustus Shirley (note 10 above) so it must be assumed that the marriage did not take place, even though the Lucy and Maturin families were close neighbours in Edgbaston 13 years later.
On 7 January 1832 an advertisement was placed in The Times for the "University School" 16 Gower Street, Bedford Square, London with the Headmaster being John Walker, A.B. Trinity College, Dublin with Charles Henry as "Vice-Master" and Gabriel as First Classical Assistant Master and six other teachers for Mathematics, English, French, German, Drawing and Perspective. This advert was repeated several times until on 16 April 1832 they moved round the corner to Tavistock House, Tavistock Square and changed name to The London High School. Initially an annual fee of £15 for day-pupils included all charges, except books and drawing materials, for tuition in Greek, Latin, English, French, German, Mathematics with the elementary principles of Astronomy and Mechanics, the Science and Practice of Arithmetic, Commercial Accounts, History and Geography (ancient and modern), the use of Globes, Reading, Elocution, Writing, Stenography and Drawing. Attending from 9.00 until 3.00 there was one hour for recreation - fencing and dancing on alternate days - at no extra charge. Gabriel and the Mathematics and English tutor, Mr B B Wyand, also offered to take in boarders, (in much the same way as Gabriel must have done at Eton and possibly Paris) for 60 guineas per annum to age 10 and 70 guineas thereafter, including the school fees. The large house at Tavistock Square, with its extensive playground and "pleasure grounds" was claimed to give pupils "all the advantages of a country residence". Discipline was maintained "without recourse, in any instance, to corporal punishment". In December 1833 Charles, as "Headmaster" was advertising for a new Classics master and by 30 May 1834 Gabriel had been replaced by Henry Bostock. In the last advert placed on 26 August 1834 Charles is noted as the Rector. The name of "Charles Maturin" was eye-catching marketing for the school as the Gothic Horror plays and books of Charles Robert Maturin (including "Melmoth the Wanderer", "Fredolfo" and "Women; or Pour et Contre") were still in the public consciousness with regular advertisements in The Times. This school must have been a logical extension of Gabriel's experience at Eton and in Paris and to have been a forerunner of Charles' later teaching in Birmingham.
Charles must have travelled extensively to meet his family and college obligations as he gave the Rede Lecture on Logic at Cambridge in June 1829 for which he received a stipend of £4 (1); this does indicate that he was actively lecturing during the term. He had been ordained priest for the diocese of Lincoln in 1838 but does not appear to have been installed in a parish as there is a note in a letter from his mother to her brother that he was teaching at the school near Edgbaston during the Chartist riots in July 1839. The premises had been taken over as a barracks for the military so he was taking holiday away from the disturbances. His father's death may have allowed Charles to resume his scholarly life at Cambridge as he was appointed Senior Proctor for Kings College in 1840, being presented to Her Majesty in that capacity at a reception of Addresses from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge at Buckingham Palace on 5 February 1841 (though both he and his fellow Proctor, Mr Dalten, were absent on 6 November 1840 so that deputies had to be appointed). The senior and junior proctors were responsible for policing the behaviour of the students within the college and in the town among many other duties (which included the apprehension of prostitutes!). He was then appointed a Taxor for the University on 13 October 1841; two Taxors looked after the interests of the students in the matter of the board and lodging in the town to make sure that they were not overcharged or under-provided.
As part of the funding of his new college at King’s, Cambridge, in 1445 Henry VI persuaded the Earl of Salisbury to exchange the rights to the tithes, rectory and manor of Ringwood for a substantial estate in Yorkshire; the Ringwood advowson he then granted to his new college. The manorial estate included several parcels of land in the town, including what are now Kingsfield and College Road. King’s College is therefore the Lay Rector and Patron for St Peter & St Paul, Ringwood and still appoints the incumbent, with advice from the Bishop, and is still responsible for all repairs to the chancel. From 1446 until 1926 the vicar at Ringwood was appointed from Fellows of the College who had been Scholars at Eton (John Turpin, vicar since 1985, is a graduate of King's). As lay-rector the Provost and Fellows must have been worried by the state of the church as high piecemeal expenditure had not achieved a lasting solution to the problems described in Ted Baker's "Ringwood Church Rebuild". In 1845 Samuel Berney Vince, vicar since 1826, died. The College appointed their senior ordained Fellow, Charles Henry, to that living and the rectory of Harbridge (traditionally associated so that the vicar would have some tithe income) and he was inducted on 31 December 1845.
Vicar of Ringwood
The appointment was valuable. In 1844, when tithes were commuted, the lay-rector received £1104. 7s. 0d. and the vicar £926; the tithes from Harbridge and the benefit of the Georgian vicarage, built in 1818, were added to make this a "good living". This compares handsomely to the £130 stipend of Charles Robert Maturin as curate of St Peter's, Dublin in the 1820's, £150 for the Bishop of Dublin's cook or the £12. 13s. for Merrick Persse Maturin as Perpetual Curate in Whitcombe, Dorset in 1919.
The Maturin family, comprising Charles, his mother Anne Augusta, his sister Augusta and niece Ellen Augusta, moved in to the Vicarage opposite the church. Ellen was the daughter of Charles’ younger brother, Gabriel James . She was born in Cork, Ireland in 1837 and died on 17 July 1860. Anne Francis, whose mother, Anne, had died shortly after her birth, was the daughter of Charles' Royal Navy brother, William, who had died of cholera in London in 1849. She was taken in and later married the boy-next-door, Henry Samuel Davy from the family of solicitors in the Market Square. The family also gave help to another cousin when Benjamin Maturin, ordained son of the dedicated Henry who moved to Donegal in 1797, lost his wife after the birth of their son, Henry. After eight years in the wilderness, moving from parish to parish in Ireland and England with his growing lad, he took the curacy at Ringwood from 1848 to 1852; he was then appointed to the living at Lymington where he remained for the rest of his long life. Young Henry came back to Ringwood for a wife, marrying Elizabeth Grace, the sister of Henry Samuel and daughter of Robert Davy, in 1868.
There was an enormous job to be done by the new vicar to persuade the churchwardens and parishioners that the church was derelict despite their spending an estimated £0.5 million at today's costs over the past 50 years. It took five years' work to get the vestry to agree to an Architect's report in 1850 and then another three years before reconstruction could start. It had been planned to retain the tower and some of the old building but it became quickly obvious that only the tower could be saved, even that became the subject of heated and lengthy technical debate, and the rest of the structure was demolished.
Such building projects are often the source of confrontation and dispute. The impression gained from Ted Baker's book is of a positive will to achieve the very best possible by the vicar, churchwardens and their Rebuilding Committee, the architects (F & H Francis of Bedford Place, London), the builders (John and Robert Cottman of Ringwood and Fordingbridge) and the town (all the major citizens including The Earl of Normanton, Henry Morant, Charles Castleman, William Jones, Thomas Dyer etc). Such will needs leadership and from all the reports it appears that Charles Henry gave that in a diplomatic but firm manner. He was absolutely secure in his humanity and faith that it was right to provide the environment for every person, young or old, rich or poor, to come to his ministry. That, and the spirit of the age, transformed the attitude of the town from downright antagonism and obstruction in 1845 to jubilation at the reconsecration of the new church in May 1855.
The church was designed with galleries above the north and south aisles and above the west door to seat 1562 instead of the previous 907. It had been intended that 766 of the new seats would be free but conditions on grants towards the building costs ensured that there would be no charges at all. As the church today can only seat 420, even allowing for the absence of the gallery, it must have been something of a crush - in pews with even less leg-room than now - to fit in so many.
Ringwood CofE school 1850
Charles Henry worked tirelessly. The Salisbury Journal reported that he was "...a truly good man, who possessed a liberal mind and a generous disposition, unalloyed by bigotry, and untarnished by selfishness and whose greater energies have been employed during the sixteen years he has been amongst us, in promoting the welfare and happiness of those around him. Amongst the poor his loss will be severely felt, as his charity was unlimited (where he found deserving worth) without regard to ???? or creed. In his manner he was kind, courteous and affable to all ....".
On the Friday 17 January 1862, at the Vicarage, he had a stroke and died the same day. Immediately shops throughout the town, of all denominations of owners, put up their shutters for the rest of the day. The funeral, held the following Thursday, "was attended by a greater number of persons than we ever recollect to have seen in this town on any similar occasion, it being calculated that not less than 1200 assembled to witness the obsequies of one, who by his many good qualities, kindness of heart, charity and liberal disposition, had succeeded in winning the affectionate love and regard of his parishioners; nor was this feeling confined to the members of his own congregation but it was disseminated throughout every congregation of Dissenters, no matter of what religious creed or persuasion, for on the melancholy of his burial all seemed to unite in one general feeling to pay the last tribute of respect to the memory of departed worth. At an early hour a muffled peal was the precursor of a sorrowful day: at 10 o’clock every shop in the town was closed, many indeed had not opened for the day. At half past eleven the mournful procession was seen issuing from the Vicarage, headed by the Court of the Ancient Order of Foresters belonging to this town, of which the deceased was an honorary member, and each one seemed to feel as if he had sustained an individual loss by the death of their departed friend and brother. The pall was borne by the Rev. C H Cheales, the Rev. H M Wilkinson, Robt. Davy Esq, H T Johns Esq, H Oakes Esq and W Reade Esq; the Rev. B Maturin, incumbent of Lymington, who was cousin to the deceased, and the Rev. C Hatch, Vicar of Fordingbridge, followed as chief mourners after which came a train of upwards of 60 persons, attired in deep mourning, amongst whom were the Rev. E Bankes, H Morant Esq, W Tice Esq, R Paris Esq, A Carter Esq, Messrs Conway, Chapple, Kingsbury, Wheaton, Veal, Martin, Massey, Low, Cox, Street, Thomas, Dunn, Holloway, Ayles, Travers, Chapman, Hayter, Cottman, Clark etc. etc. etc. On arriving at the church the Foresters opened right and left and the procession entered and from the numerous persons that had assembled to witness the mournful ceremony some considerable time was occupied in each one being seated so enormous was the congregation. The service was read in a most solemn and impressive manner by the Rev. Joseph Harriman (?? semi-illegible) amidst the most profound and gloomy silence, which was heightened by the trappings of woe which were hung around the interior of the sacred edifice. On the conclusion of the service the procession was re formed, and proceeded to the vault, in which had previously been deposited the remains of the deceased’s mother and a much loved niece. On depositing the body in the vault not an eye could be scarcely seen but what was dimmed with a tear, whilst on the features of many, they flowed copiously; and never did the grave close over the remains of one in this parish whose memory will be longer cherished and kept alive by the recollections of the many virtues and good qualities that adorned the name of him whose obsequies had on that day been performed." (Salisbury Journal 25 January 1826)
The sixth bell had already been recast in his honour at the rebuilding of the church but as a memorial the congregation and town replaced the plain glass in the chancel sanctuary windows (both north and south walls) with "handsome stained glass" with "four beautiful illustrations" of The Sermon on the Mount, Christ Blessing the Little Children, Our Saviour's Charge to St Peter and Christ Walking upon the Water. A brass tablet in a block of black marble was also placed on the wall of the south aisle:
In memory of
The Rev Charles Henry Maturin, M.A.
Who died on the 17th January 1862, in the 63rd year of his age.
During sixteen years he was Vicar of this parish and Rector of Harbridge;
And by many virtues secured the love and esteem of all classes of his parishioners and friends,
Who have erected this tablet, together with two windows,
In the chancel of this church,
As a tribute of their affectionate remembrance of him
And of their regret
At his loss.
Charles' mother had died on 10 March 1855 and been buried in the railed, vaulted tomb between the east wall of the chancel and Church Hatch. At his death his sister, Augusta, who had spent her life supporting all he had done and being an essential part of every bazaar and fund-raising effort in the parish, was left adrift at the age of 54. No more is known of her until she appears in the 1881 census at a lodging house in Leamington Spa as a "Proprietor of Stocks" with her sister Frances Charlotte (now a widow - Fulton) a couple of miles away in Warwick; Augusta died in 1890 and Frances in 1896. George Browne Maturin, who had been at Eton with Charles, died at the age of 22 in Malta. William Francis had died of cholora at 43 as mentioned. Another sister, Henrietta, had married and gone to Santo Domingo but died at the age of 20. Washington Shirley Maturin had married his cousin Elizabeth Phillips in Paris but their only daughter died aged 16; Washington was Rector of Thurgarten, Norfolk until he died in 1876. Another brother, Gabriel James had been a Captain in the 2nd Lancers, serving in Spain and South America, but then came home to be a Superintendant in the Birmingham Police until he emigrated to Australia and died there childless aged 53 in 1863. Walter also died as a teenager. Of Anne Augusta's large family only one grandaughter, Frances who had married Henry Davy, survived to have children of her own.
Anne Augusta would not have seen this as tragedy; she was certain of heaven for herself and all those about her. Her daughter Augusta wrote " ..... nor shall I ever forget the triumphant smile of supreme joy as her gentle spirit took its flight .... As this world receded the glories of that to come opened to the view with redoubled brightness".
1) The Rede Lectures take their origin from an endowment left to the University by Sir Robert Rede, Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas 1506-19, a member of Buckingham College and later a Fellow of the King's Hall. With this endowment Sir Robert's executors bought an annuity of 20 marks (£13 6s 8d) from the abbot of convent of Waltham Holy Cross. The annuity was to be paid to the Master and Fellows of Jesus College who bound themselves to pay £4 annually to each of three persons who were to lecture on Humanity, Logic and Philosophy. Probably this represents the establishment of a fixed stipend for the 'ordinary' lecturers already in existence. They were to lecture to all the university without fees -- and in mid-term were to pray publicly for the soul of Sir Robert and of his wife, for whom the university also performed annual exequies. The lecturers, being normally elected on 11 June, St Barnabas' Day, were commonly known as the 'Barnaby Lecturers'. Appointed at the same time, but from an earlier date, were lecturers in mathematics who, for convenience, are listed here also. The names of early lecturers survive only randomly, but there are more to be found than here appear, but it is apparent that they often held office for more than one year.
111112) Rev George Browne MATURIN, born Orlingbury, Northampton, Aug. 16th 1800, see note above under parents (IGI - Christened Jul 27, 1804, Eton, Bucks). Both he and his brother Charles Henry entered Eton College as Oppidans in April 1808, and both were elected King’s Scholars * in September 1812 so becoming Collegers. Entered on the roll for King’s College, Cambridge in 1820 and went up in the same year; Mareschal at Montem in 1820, i.e. he led the procession, see below. Admitted to King’s.. 27 July 1820, matriculated Michaelmas 1820; BA 1825; Fellow 1823-8. Ordained deacon 1824, priest 1826. Fellow, King’s College, M.A. of the University. Died at Malta (sic. list of Eton Scholars and Alum. Cantab. note Corfu in 1828) Oct 20, 1826.
* “Montem” refers to a tradition at Eton College when, every third year on Whit-Tuesday, the scholars processed to a burial mound (ad montem - to the mountain) on the Bath road and collected a toll from all and sundry, including up to £50 from Royalty, which was then presented to the Captain of Montem, the senior Colleger, to support him through his degree. (Magna Britannia) Charles took part in 1817 but held no office.
111113) William Francis MATURIN R.N. (IGI - Christened Oct 23, 1804 Eton, Bucks). Married Anne Conquer 6 Apr 1835 in the parish of Antony, Cornwall (2 miles west of Torpoint / Devonport) but she died shortly after the birth of Frances Anne, on 4 Sep 1838. William rushed from his ship in Sheerness, despite that he might have missed the sailing and therefore forfeited his position, but he arrived too late on the day she died. Qualified as R.N. Paymaster and Purser 9 Nov 1846. He died in London of cholera Aug 15, 1849 aged 43 (sic but must be 48). Left one daughter:
1111131) Frances Anne MATURIN, born in Plymouth Aug 29, 1838, who was married Sept 27, 1866 to Henry Samuel DAVY Esq. Solicitor, of Ringwood, (he was born in Ringwood, Sept 20, 1842: died April 5, 1918; brother of Elizabeth Grace Davy who married Henry Maturin 1111271) by whom she had 10 children. She died June 9, 1886. In the 1881 Census the family comprised:-
1) Minette Frances Mary Davy, aged 13 (born Aug 11, 1867: died July 18 1931- tablet in Ringwood Parish Church)
2) Beatie Davy, aged 12
3) Henry H. Davy aged 19 in 1891
4) Evelyn F. Davy, aged 8
5) Charlotte A. M. Davy, aged 6
6) Bishop O.N. Davy, aged 5
7) William H. Davy, aged 3
8) Isabel M. Davy, aged 2
9) Adela G M Davy aged 7 in 1891
111114) Henrietta Georgina MATURIN. (IGI - Christened Oct 23, 1804 Eton), Bucks Married to - Surean Esq. Died in St. Domingo, 1823 aged 20. The name of William Surean appears in the List of Naturalisations, March 11, 1700 (Agnews “Exiles”, Index Vol: p. 64) (St Domingo now Santo Domingo in Dominican Republic)
111115) Rev: Washington Shirley MATURIN, (born about 1807). Admitted to Queen’s College, Cambridge 6 Jul 1842; ordained deacon 1849, priest 1850; curate of Emmanuel Church, Camberwell, Surrey 1850; curate of All Saints, Norwich 1851-52 (Alum Cantab). Rector of Thurgarten, Norfolk 1859 (Alum Cantab 1852). Married in 1839, Elizabeth, daughter of Col: Phillips (IGI - Washington Shirley M. married Elizabeth Phillips in the British Embassy Chapel, Paris on 26 Dec 1836). She died Oct 29, 1873, aged 68. He died Oct 5 1876 aged 69. Their only child,
1111151) Elizabeth Augusta MATURIN, died in 1864 aged 16.
111116) Anne Augusta (Augusta) MATURIN, (IGI - Christened Oct 28, 1808 Eton, Bucks) resides in England, unmarried. Died May 4, 1890. (1851 & 61 censuses a “fundholder” at The Vicarage, Ringwood with Charles Henry; 1881 census - noted as being aged 72, born at Eton, Berkshire, a “Proprietor of Stocks” at a lodging house, 16 Hamilton Terrace, Leamington Priors, Warwick; c.f. her sister Frances at Milverton, Warwick.)
111117) Gabriel James MATURIN, (IGI - Christened Sept 1810 at Eton, Bucks) On Saturday 14 November 1835 The Royal Tar left Cork Harbour for Santander with 301 men to join the Queen of Spain's Own Royal Irish Lancers with officers - Colonel Jacks, Captains Smith, Rooke, Maturin and M'Carthy. There were problems over pay and on 28 September 1837 Colonel Jacks and all his officers in the 2nd Lancers, British Legion at San Sebastian, Spain, including Gabriel, were petitioning for justice from the British Government which had "espoused and forwarded" the cause in Spain. No trace has so far been found of a marriage but a daughter, Ellen Augusta, was born in Cork in about 1837. In April 1842 he was Superintendent of Police in Birmingham during Nailer's riots; present as a Sub-Intendant on the visit to Birmingham by Prince Albert on 29 Nov 1843. As a witness at a trial in London of the instigators of an attempted coup in Ecuador in January 1847 Gabriel was described as "military-man who wore a large moustache"; as a cavalry officer he had been promised a squadron of cavalry when they reached Ecuador and he duly reported for duty on 24 November 1846. The expedition never sailed. He married Margaret King in first quarter of 1848 in Marylebone, London. He emigrated to Australia. with Margaret in 1852 and is recorded as an Officer in the Army. Died at Collingwood, Melbourne Sept 16, 1863, aged 54 of cancer of the tongue. His death certificate declares that he was 11 years in Victoria but that he was aged 35 when he married Margaret in 1848.
1111171) Ellen Augusta MATURIN Daughter of Gabriel James, born in about 1837 in Cork (according to the 1851 census). Lived with her grandmother, Anne Augusta, and uncle, Charles Henry, at Ringwood Vicarage. Died of Dyspnea (a catchall phrase covering lung problems and asthma) aggravated by spinal curvature at Ringwood on 20 July 1860 aged 23.
111118) Walter Augustus MATURIN (IGI - Christened Jun 9, 1812 at Eton, Bucks) died at Paris 1821, aged 9 (but Walter Shirley describes him as "pickle" in 1826 - see above).
111119) Frances Charlotte MATURIN. (IGI - Christened Nov 15, 1814 at Upton cum Chalvey, Bucks) Married to - Fulton Esq. who died in Australia about 1843. No issue. She resides in England. Died July 1896. (1881 census - Frances Fulton, aged 66, born at Windsor, Berkshire, noted as an “Annuitant” at a lodging house, 21 Church Hill, Milverton, Warwick)
Charles, Gabriel and his family
.
Charles Henry
awarded to Peter in 1728
including Peter (1705), his son Peter (1732), Dean Gabriel James daughters and the Quinan connection
Dean Gabriel's eldest son Charles (1729), his eldest son Gabriel (1767) and his family
Henry (1771), Charles' second son, and his descendants
Captain Gabriel (1730) second son of Dean Gabriel James
third son of Dean Gabriel and his family
Gabriel (1638), his son Peter (1668) and grandson Gabriel James (1700)
