Part one - from Gabriel in 1650 to his grandson Gabriel James (Dean of St. Patrick's, Dublin)
Part two - Gabriel James' descendants from his eldest son Charles
Part three - Captain Gabriel
Part four - the family of William, Gabriel James' third son
Willie Henry - the sad tale of William Henry in the Great War Part five - the original Gabriel's remaining grandchildren
Part four - the family of William, Gabriel James' third son
1113) William Maturin. William was the third son of Gabriel James, Dean of St Patrick's, Dublin. His birth date is uncertain but his eldest brother Charles was born in about 1729; by surmise (see part 3) brother Gabriel was born between 1730 & 1736 and his sister Anne in about 1743. William is not recorded in Alumni Dublinenses as attending Trinity but is noted as "Rev'd" in a deed of 1783. At the Inquiry into the Post Office in 1810 William claimed 47 years service to 1809, indicating his first appointment in 1762. Any date between 1734 and 1742 is therefore possible.
On 16 Jun 1770 issue 570 of The Dublin Mercury gave notice of the marriage of William "of the General Post Office" to Fidelia Watson "of Marlborough Street", (M.L. dated May 25, 1770), whose name occurs in the Register of Deeds as follows:- “1773. 18 Feb: The Rev: William Maturin, City of Dublin and Fidelia Maturin, otherwise Watson, his wife, one of five children of Sarah Watson, £2000 for her children”. It is stated that “this lady was cousin of Lord Farnham and descended from the Montmorencies and Rochforts of Queen Ann’s day”(1).
Since the Civil War Governments had been fearful and insecure regarding the distribution of information through the mail and by news-sheets. The General Post Office in London had long been a centre for the secret interception of mail to and from people under suspicion of revolution or treachery (2). From the Restoration (of Charles II) sealed letters were invisibly opened, copied and resealed with great expertise by a team of clerks in a secret office, working in great haste so that there should be no appearance of delay. Postmasters throughout the country were selected to inform on any suspicious activity in their area. William Pitt developed the English system as the tensions within Europe rose with the aftermath of the French Revolution. A similar organisation had been created in Ireland (3). In theory, from the early 1700s, lords-lieutenant had to obtain a warrant from London to authorise the opening of mail: evidence shows that many copied letters, from James Napper Tandy for example, appear in Pitt's papers in the National Archive at Kew. In the unrest leading to the 1798 Rebellion Dublin Castle (the seat of government in Ireland) instructed the Secretary of the General Post Office in Dublin, Sir John Lees, to expand the information gathering organisation based on reliable Postmasters, together with other loyalists, and the copying of mail. So successful was this operation that Lees made himself indispensable and later his son Edward almost irremovable.
Governments recognised the need to buy loyalty at the highest levels of society. In England there was just one Post Master General but there were two in Ireland, rarely present in Dublin, but each paid £1500 a year when a senior clerk was fortunate to receive £150. The Irish Post Office Establishment comprised the potentially powerful Secretary (though the position was a sinecure until the Dublin Office was made independent of London in 1774), the Treasury, Accountant-General, Sorting office, Alphabet office, Bye-letter office and numerous clerks sorters and letter carriers. From the very top of the system there were opportunities for perquisites which in the absence of any check or balance grew to become the ambition, and perceived right, of many within the organisation. Promotion was generally accompanied by greater opportunities for "emoluments". The Alphabet had a Keeper - on a low salary - who was in charge of taking the letters for specific Dublin subscribers who could then collect their letters from the window of a special sorting-office in College Green instead of waiting for the delivery to their door; for the privilege of getting their mail on London market prices etc. before their competitors the grateful customers expected to pay a gratuity to the Alphabet Keeper(s) (4). In 1774 the joint-Alphabet Keeper resigned; the other joint-keeper was Ponsonby Moore (younger brother of the Earl of Drogheda) who appointed William Maturin (whose previous job from 1762 is so far unknown) to fill the post. The connection to the Moores is uncertain but Ponsonby was on the the same board as Peter Maturin (who was Engineer for the Barracks Board for the Army in Ireland; Peter was the brother of Dean Gabriel James, so uncle to William (5)). Moore was instructed to pay £150 a year to William out of the proceeds of his office, "but could keep the remainder" (6). It may be hardly likely that the Hon. Ponsonby Moore would attend the sorting office on a daily basis but from his proceeds he would be able to pay a clerk to do so.
The Clerks of the Roads were ancient appointments. There were six clerks in England and four in Ireland. Originally in total charge of the main delivery routes through the realms the responsibilities of the clerks had devolved to ensuring that Government still had a semblance of control over potential sedition in news-sheets, and the stamp-duty imposed on them. In Ireland, by the early 1790s, the Government had bought up the most influential of the Dublin and Belfast press by direct subsidy or handsome payment for printing official proclamations (3). By subsidising selected news-sheets, delivering them to the door and making them very much cheaper and more accessible than the radical press the Government attempted to guide public opinion. The Clerks were therefore an important and economic means of achieving that distribution. The six clerks in England were all awarded to those Post Office servants who had given loyal service to the Crown. The Ulster (North), Connaught and Leinster Roads were awarded in the same fashion in Ireland but the Munster Road was appointed "by favour". It was a sinecure. Ponsonby Moore was the Clerk of the Munster Road and recruited William to be his co-Clerk. The Clerks purchased the news-sheets by the quire from the printers, paid the stamp-duty, sold them to individual subscribers, and had them sent by clerks through the Post Office mail under their own frank (i.e. free of postage) to their own profit. This was a considerably remunerative personal advantage. The Clerks generally died in office as there was no pressure to superannuate them; it was cheaper for the Establishment to let absentee office-holders remain in post and pay their own clerks to do the day-to-day work rather than pay a pension.
Franking was an issue in the early Post Office. At various times Members of Parliament, the House of Lords, senior civil servants and Post Office officials could merely sign the outside of a Government business letter and have that letter delivered anywhere within their remit free-of-charge. Forgery of signatures and misapplication to non-government use was rife and the system was considerably abused. The Clerks of the Roads could however legally advertise throughout Ireland for subscribers to pay them directly and have the news delivered by post - free of additional charge. The business grew from just news-sheets such as the Belfast News-Letter (3 times a week) to weekly or monthly periodicals. The English clerks were forbidden to frank periodicals.
Sir John Lees was the Secretary from 1774 and also Clerk of the Leinster Road, the most lucrative of the Roads. In failing health in 1801 he appointed his 18 year-old son Edward Smith Lees as his co-Secretary and joint Clerk of the Road. In practice the pair delegated the operation of supplying news-sheets to the Road to Sir John's brother-in-law, William Armit. In an excellent paper on the Lees family and the Irish Post Office Beatrice Bayley Butler paints a vivid picture of the difficulty in finding anything good to say about a man who amassed a fortune of £100,000 by taking every opportunity to enrich himself and his extended family (7). Bartlett (3) points out that Sir John Lees was instrumental in the Post Office involvement in gathering information on the leaders of the 1798 Rebellion. He was in close contact with government at Dublin Castle and had undoubtedly used his influential connections to his great advantage. Though there is no evidence at present of Edward's involvement it is most unlikely that such a successful operation would be allowed to wither. William was most unfortunate to have been in the way of these unscrupulous, ambitious men and their high connections. Edward's subsequent treatment of him indicates that William was not involved in the spying as such would have made him impossible to dismiss in a brutal fashion. In 1802 three of the four Clerks of the Road, Henry Harrison of the Connaught Road, James Twigg of the North Road and William Maturin sent a Memorial to the Post Masters General pointing out that following the Act of Union in 1801 the number of newspapers distributed had fallen away (8). The absence of reports of the proceedings of the defunct Dublin Government and the uncertainty within the country had led to extensive cancellation of orders. With basic salaries of £40 to £60 per annum receipts had, it was claimed, fallen to the point of penury. Figures were produced to illustrate the losses and the request was made for allowances to be made by the Lord Lieutenant from government rather than Post Office funds. Sir John Lees added his own appeal in his letter enclosing the Memorial. The payments were eventually allowed and became a useful addition to salary.
In 1809 circumstances changed. A Commission on Fees and Gratuities was set up by a Government concerned about the scale of fraud. Henry Harrison died and a replacement was needed. William Donlevy succeeded as Clerk of the Connaught Road (9). He had joined the Post Office as a twelve-year-old probationer in about 1776 and slowly worked his way through the organisation. From about 1795 he had also been appointed to The Bank of Ireland and split his time between the two jobs, latterly attending the Bank as Accountant-General from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day. He was at the Post Office from 5.15 p.m until the mails were despatched at about 8 p.m. and returned to be in his chair from 6 a.m. until 8.30 or 9 a.m. (though by custom and permission of the Post Masters General he was allowed two mornings and two evenings off each week). In the examination by the Commissioners of Revenue in 1826 he said that in the period leading up to 1808 he had the ear of Post Master General Lord Clancarty who "could never never make out what those clerks of the road were making; he asked me what they were making; I did not know then; he asked me to tell him if ever I succeeded to it, and I promised I would, and I did tell him" (10). His revelation that Harrison's books showed that £1200 a year had been made from the Connaught Road (far higher than the figures declared to justify the 1802 allowances); this was seized by the Secretaries and embroidered in to allegations of wholesale fraud by the remaining three Clerks and their claims under the 1802 agreement. The superficial investigation by the Post Masters General found that fraud to the tune of £3,539 0s 2d had been perpetrated.
With great agility the Lees rapidly reimbursed the Government for their 1802 allowances. They sacked William Armit as their agent on the Road as being totally responsible for any fraud or wrong-doing - but re-employed him, Sir John's brother-in-law, as a personal agent. Father and son then took unblemished personal control of the Leinster Road. Donlevy was rewarded by confirmation in his position (but at a lower salary and tighter control of his allowances). On 1 October 1809 James Twigg and William received letters from Edward Lees advising them of the discovery of "their fraud" (11). Despite useless protestation the two persecuted old men were forced to either resign immediately or suffer the ignomony of public dismissal.
Lees even demanded that William reimburse £1000, but this claim is only referred to the following letter of resignation from William; the file copy of the original demand is not included in the otherwise comprehensive published papers. It may be over-suspicious to assume that settlement might have been expected to be repaid to a Lees' personal account. On 10 November 1809 William wrote to the Secretary
Sir
In obedience to the commands of the Postmasters General signified by you this day, I hereby send you the resignation of my employment at the Post Office; lest however my dereliction of the office should be attended with any inconvenience to the public service, I am willing to attend till my successor is appointed, and the official Accounts are arranged. I do not complain of the decision of the Postmasters General, though it has at once thrown me, after a laborious, and till this unfortunate circumstance, an unimpeachable service of nearly 50 years, from a state of respectability, comfort and independence, to a situation of the deepest distress, and I may say absolute beggary and want; under these circumstances allow me to entreat you, Sir, to solicit their Lordships on my behalf for charity. Judge, Sir, what must be my feeling, and to what I am reduced when I wrote this word, yet I repeat it, for charity, to grant me or recommend me to Government for some small annual stipend, to afford me daily bread, for of such I shall be in want, if they are not graciously pleased to assist me. With respect to the £1,000 demanded, I have only to solicit a little time, at the longest say six months, by which time, probably much sooner, I pledge myself to pay that sum, though to do so I shall be obliged to reduce myself to the state I have described.
I beg the favour of an answer, that I may know whether I am to attend the Office;
And am, Sir Your obedient servant Wm Maturin
No answer is recorded (12). The matter was completed, two lives were destroyed and the Secretary's nominees were installed as Clerks of the Munster and North Roads. Patrick Thompson had been the trusted senior clerk to Edward Lees and took the Munster Road until Edward's younger brother, Thomas Orde Lees, was old enough to assume control.
On 18th May 1810 a further enquiry by the Commissioners on Fees, Gratuities etc reported on their examination of all parties. William had defended himself and produced detailed accounts of his income and expenses from the Munster Road, including evidence from news-sheet printers, his subscription book and summaries for the years between 1799 and 1809. It emerged that none of the Clerks kept debit and credit figures at any time - William merely noted down when subscriptions were due to expire and often suffered losses when his trust was misplaced and continued to send papers which were never paid for. The 1802 arrangement for reimbursement after declining sales was a very approximate justification based on the number of quires bought from printers; such would have been accceptable to an accounts system which allowed many worse abuses and certainly not unacceptable to Sir John Lees who took the best part of the profit from it. The Examiners looked very carefully at the way the 1802 system had been set up and compared that to the fluctuations of subsequent figures. They came to the conclusion that over seven years William had merely miscalculated previously and his total debt to the public purse was just £336.9.11 - hardly a basis for an accusation of fraud.
The examiners concluded:
It is to be regretted that an investigation, such as we have bestowed on it, did not precede the removal of the persons accused from their situations; for although we must censure the loose manner in which they ascertained their yearly circulation of Papers, and have pointed out the instances in which the public interests were affected thereby, yet there do not appear to us grounds for attaching to their conduct a charge of fraud: we are consequently of opinion, that their former unimpeached characters and length of services, should have induced, for an irregularity such as we have described, a milder course than dismissal from office. At the same time we consider it incumbent on us to declare, that we are convinced the Postmasters General acted from a laudable and anxious zeal for the public service, and under impressions of guilt, which we are by no means surprized were, on the first impulse, excited by the representation of their Secretary; but which, if our our conclusions are justly formed, a more deliberate examination into the circumstances of the case would have removed. (13)
Edward Lees had achieved his goal. Two old men were replaced with men obliged to him. He still had the support of Dublin Castle and the Postmasters General. A secret minute from the Postmasters General to the Secretary barring either Clerk from further Post Office employment remained in force. Lees was simply too powerful to cross. A Government pension for either William or James Twigg would have cast doubt on Lees judgment. It would be another 21 years of questionable public service before the English Postmaster General, the Duke of Rutland, found grounds to remove Sir Edward Lees from Dublin, but had to move him to Edinburgh at the behest of the Duchess of Rutland.
Under those circumstances it is not surprising that William received no help with a pension.
Note 1) Rev'd Edmund Maturin Pedigree 1880 (family archive)
Note 3) Revolutionary Dublin 1795-1801 Thomas Bartlett pp 14-18 (with grateful thanks to Caroline Glass for finding this breakthrough)
Note 4) Commissioners of Revenue Enquiry - Appendix 96 11 August 1823
Note 5) Belfast News-Letter 31 Dec 1872 - 170187
Note 6) Belfast News-Letter Monday 4 May 1857 Issue 12758 - History of the Irish Post Office
Note 7) John and Edward Lees; Secretaries of the Irish Post Office 1774 - 1831 by Beatrice Bayley Butler (1947). Dublin Historical Record Vol 13, no 3/4 An Tostal (1953) pp 138-150. Published by Old Dublin Society.
Note 8) Reports from Commissioners (Ireland) 23 January to June 21 1810 Vol X Appendix A no. 1
Note 9) Appendix to Nineteenth Report of Commissioners of Revenue Inquiry - examination 185, William Donlevy 10 Oct 1826
Note 10) ibid
Note 11) Supplement to the Ninth Report of the Commissioners on Fees, Gratuties 23 January to June 21 1810 Vol X Appendix A No.s 8 to 29
Note 12) Supplement to the Ninth Report of the Commissioners on Fees, Gratuties 23 January to June 21 1810 Vol X Appendix A No. 24
Note 13) Supplement to the Ninth Report of the Commissioners on Fees, Gratuties 23 January to June 21 1810 Vol X conclusion
11131) Rev: Charles Robert Maturin, eldest son of William Maturin Esq. Born in Dublin, 1780. Entered Trin: Coll: Dub: Nov 2, 1795. Scholar T.C.D. 1798. B.A. Vern. 1800. Curate of St. Peter’s, Dublin. Married in 1803, Harriet, (sic but mistaken - should be Henrietta) (daughter of the Rev: Thomas Kingsbury. Her sister was wife of Sir Charles Ormesby, Bart. and their two sons became baronets in succession.
Engraving of C R Maturin, from a drawing by W. Brocas, printed in the book Irish Eccentrics, by Peter Somerville-Large. Hamish Hamilton, London 1975
Sally Lloyd notes: Rev.Thomas Kingsbury’s father, Dr Thomas Kingsbury (noted in the Dublin Directory 1738 as Physician, Censor), was President of the Royal College of Physicians in 1744, resided in Anglesey Street, Dublin, and was one of Swift's Medical Attendants. Rev. Thomas LL.D, was commissioner of Bankruptcy and Vicar of Kildare. He lived at Lisle House in Molesworth Street in the shadow of the Duke of Leinster's mansion, now the seat of Ireland's Parliament. Another of his daughters, Ann Sarah Kingsbury, married Charles Elgee. Their daughter Jane Francesca Elgee married William Robert Wills Wilde. Their son was Oscar O’Flahertie Wills Wilde. When released from prison in 1897 Wilde exiled himself in France and used the alias of Sebastian Melmoth in his travels.
Rev. Combe states: In 1803 Charles Robert Maturin married Henrietta Kingsbury, whose brother, Thomas, became Archdeacon of Killala. Besides being a girl of singular beauty and talent, Henrietta was one of the most accomplished vocalists of Dublin, having been a pupil of Madame Catalini.
Author of various books, consisting of sermons, novels and tragedies. He wrote thus of his ancestor:- “I possessed formerly an immense number of the emigrant’s MSS. They were principally in Latin: a few in French”. He died Oct 20, 1824.
Dictionary of National Biography: “MATURIN, Charles Robert (1782-1824), novelist and dramatist; BA, Trinity College, Dublin 1800; curate of St Peter’s, Dublin; set up a school and took to literature, 1807; compelled to give up the school, 1813; his manuscript tragedy Bertram, recommended by Scott to Kemble, who declined it; produced by Kean, on Byron’s recommendation, at Drury Lane, 1816, with great success; produced two unsuccessful tragedies; published, besides other novels, Monotorio (1807), which Scott reviewed with appreciation The Milesian Chief (1812), imitated by Scott in The Bride of Lammermoor, and Melmoth (1820), his masterpiece; had great influence on the rising romantic school of France.”
Chambers Biographical Dictionary: “Irish dramatist and romancer. .... made his name with a series of extravagant novels in macabre vein that rivalled those of Mrs Radcliffe. These included The Fatal Revenge, Melmoth and The Albigensis. His tragedy, Bertram, had a success on Drury Lane in 1816; its successors, Manuel and Fredolpho were failures. See memoir prefixed to new edition of Melmoth (1892) and Letters (1927).”
Chronology
1780 (25 September) Born in Dublin,
1795 aged 15. Entered Trinity College, Dublin;
1800 aged 20. Graduated with a BA. Degree;
1803 Ordained and appointed to the curacy of Loughrea, Galway aged 23 (October) Married Henrietta Kingsbury;
1806 aged 26. Appointed to the curacy of St. Peter's, Dublin Son William born;
1807 aged 27. Fatal Revenge; or, The Family of Montana, under the pseudonym of Dennis Jasper Murphy; 1808 aged 28. The Wild Irish Boy, under the same pseudonym;
1809 aged 29. His father unjustly dismissed from a comfortable place as one of the four “Clerks of the Roads” in the Irish Post Office. The family suffered acute poverty until William was exculpated and given another appointment;
1810 aged 30. Stood security for a relative, who defaulted, leaving him to pay the sum guaranteed (May) Walter Scott reviewed Fatal Revenge favourably in the Quarterly Review;
1812 aged 32. The Milesian Chief under the same pseudonym; obtained £80 for the copyright (18 December) Wrote to Scott thanking him belatedly for the review. The correspondence once begun continued until Maturin's death. Son Edward born; 1814 aged 34 (September) Sent manuscript of his tragedy, Bertram, to Scott, who offered criticisms for its improvement (December) Scott recommended Bertram to John Kemble, but Kemble declined it;
1815 aged 34 (June) Scott advised submitting Bertram to Byron, having spoken with him about Maturin, with a view to its production at Drury Lane; aged 35. (December) Byron wrote to Maturin praising Bertram;
1816 aged 35. (9 May) Bertram produced at Drury Lane, with Edmund Kean in the title role. The play was a great success, earning for Maturin altogether about £1000;
(May) Visited London to enjoy his success, but the visit was a disappointment, and he was a disappointing "lion"
1817 aged 36. (8 March) Manuel, a tragedy, produced at Drury Lane. It failed com-pletely, largely through Kean’s indifference to his part (July) Coleridge published his scathing "Critique on Bertram" in “The Courier”, reprinted in Biographia Lateraria;
1818 aged 37. Women; or, Pour et Contre;
1819 Aged 38 (12 May) Fredolfo, a tragedy, produced at Covent Garden; a failure, in spite of a strong cast; Sermons.
1820 aged 40. Melmoth the Wanderer, for which the publisher, Archibald Constable, advanced him £500 through Scott's good offices;
1821 aged 41. Melmoth the Wanderer translated into French;
1823 aged 42. (:4 July) Melmoth the Wanderer: A Melo-Dramatic Romance, in Three Acts, by B. West, produced at the Royal Coburg Theatre. The text was published;
1824 aged 44. Five Sermons on the Errors of the Roman Catholic Church The Albigenses, his last novel (30 October) Died at Dublin, leaving a widow and four children, the youngest only five years old; - "he laboured with incessant assiduity for his family even after it had pleased the Almighty to deprive him of health - his sufferings with regard to pecuniary circumstances preyed on a constitution naturally delicate, till at last it put a period to his existence” (Mrs. Maturin to Scott, 11 November)
1830 Osmyn the Renegade, an unpublished play, which was once in rehearsal at Covent Garden in 1822, produced in Dublin
In the Dublin Directory of 1820 Revd C Maturin is noted as living at 37 York Street.
Rev. Combe states: Born in 1782 (sic, see above), he received his education first from Mr.Kerr and then at Dublin University where he gained a scholarship in 1798 and graduated two years later. His literary merits earned recognition at Trinity College, for in 1802 he was awarded the first Divinity premium for written composition. After serving a curacy at Loughrea in the Diocese of Clonfert he returned to Dublin in 1816 (sic, other sources indicate 1806), as curate of St.Peter’s parish where the rest of his ministry was spent. He lived at 37, York Street. The curacy of St.Peter’s only yielded him at the most £90 per annum. In order to supplement this slender income he wrote several fictitious works. One of his earliest productions, the tragedy “Bertram”, was an immediate success and established his reputation. When performed at Drury Lane, a leading part was played by the celebrated actor, Kean. Other plays and novels written by him were “Melmoth the Wanderer”, “Woman”, “Manual” and “Fridolfo”. From now onwards he moved in high society and was on friendly terms with Lord Byron and Sir Walter Scott. Scott admired his genius and took a close interest in his personal welfare. Learning that he had died in poverty, leaving unpublished manuscripts, he wrote to his widow, gratuitously offering his editorial services, so that the books could be published and she herself could live in comfort. Later, while on a visit to Dublin, he contacted Maturin’s son, Edward, and made kind enquiries after the family. It is not generally realized that Charles Robert Maturin was also one of the foremost orators of his day. Some of his sermons were published in 1821 and dedicated to his former rector, James Saurin, who had left St.Peter’s to become Dean of Derry. While it might be argued that these discourses are of limited theological worth, they are nevertheless deserving of study because of their devotional content and their high literary quality. Perusing these sermons, one gains the feeling of being in contact with a dynamic personality. When originally delivered, they must have been particularly impressive. Every page, every paragraph is illuminated by some telling epigram or some vivid turn of phrase. Preaching on the occasion of the death of Princess Charlotte, he declared: “Life is full of death; the steps of the living cannot press the earth without disturbing the ashes of the dead - we walk upon our ancestors - the globe itself is one vast churchyard.” In a sermon on Female Education, he observed “Woman was last at the cross, and woman was first at the sepulchre.” The popularity of Maturin’s preaching was partly due, no doubt, to its appeal to the human emotions. Describing the triumphant faith of a woman, whose daughter had died at the age of eighteen after a long and painful illness, he continued: “What supported that mother in that hour? She had led her, when a little child, to Jesus, and now she resigned her to him - ay, and with a happier spirit than if she had stood at the altar to give her daughter’s hand to the first and fairest of the sons of men.” When appealing for charities Maturin laid great stress upon the spiritual needs of the poor. Material relief was no substitute for Scriptural instruction. In a charity sermon, preached at Coolock, he remarked: “They (i.e. the poor) are flung offals from day to day that keep the body from dying of famine (not always that) but their souls are left to perish.” In another sermon, preached on behalf of the children of St.Audson’s School, he exclaimed: “I ask not for them only bread or raiment or shelter - I ask for the life of the soul - for the words of everlasting life - for the Bible - I have stated to you the terrors of the Lord; knowing that if one soul be brought to repentance, there will be more joy than if mountains of gold were heaped in that aisle.” During the Lent of 1824 Maturin preached a course of controversial sermons entitled “Five Sermons on the Errors of the Roman Catholic Church”; these aroused great publicity. Reading through this series it is difficult to know which to admire the more - -he superb rhetoric or the faultless logic. Again and again the preacher allowed himself to be swept away on lofty flights of oratory. Describing the glory of Rome in her heyday he exclaimed: “She stood a Colossus - one foot planted in the centre of the visible globe and the other in the shadowy regions of futurity - mistress confessed of both worlds - and all Europe, from Orcades to Calpe - from the western extremity of Ireland to the confines of Russia - bowed before her, and worshipped. Europe, what do I say? From Paraguay to China - from Labrador to Lapland, she claimed all power and possessed all she claimed - so she sat in the palace and seat of the Caesars - her foot on the necks of kings - and her triple crown mingling with the stars of heaven. Nor was her opulence less than her power, every ship that traversed the seas brought her wealth; every horn that sounded at the gates of the seven-hill’d city announced homage; every breeze that blew beneath the canopy of heaven, fanned the standard of the triple crown.” Referring elsewhere to the corruption of Rome, he sighed: “Oh Rome - in cleansing out thy Augean stall, I feel I am pouring in but a drop of water, while thou requirest the Nile in flood to purify thee.” Dealing with the subject of merit, he used the following masterly illustration: “…….. suppose the rebellious subject of an earthly sovereign in the midst of his traitorous practices, apprehended, tried and condemned - suppose his offended but merciful master condescends, in spite of all his guilt, to grant him and his traitorous accomplices a free and full pardon, solely at the intercession of his Son - suppose he declares this with his own mouth, writes it with his own hand, and seals it with his royal signet - requiring only the criminal to come into his presence and acknowledge before him that he claims his pardon, solely on the ground of that intercession. The sovereign is seated, the criminal appears, and what is his declaration? “May it please your Majesty, you and your whole court are in expectation of hearing that I owe my pardoned life to the intercession of your Son; but I would have your Majesty to understand that, exclusive of the merits of that illustrious person - for whom, to be sure, I have a high respect - I have a vast stock of merits of my own, which your Majesty happened to overlook, of course, as you never mentioned a word of it in the pardon you were pleased to send me; and that these merits of mine are of so very extensive and accommodating a nature as to entitle, not only myself, but all my fellow traitors to pardon, whom, on that account, I beg leave to recommend to your Majesty’s mercy.” I ask, if such a declaration were made (and not even the charitable excuse of insanity could be urged for the speaker), what would be the exclamation of the insulted sovereign and his astonished court? “Away with such a fellow from the earth, for it is not fit that he should live!” These sermons were enlivened still further by delightful witticisms and brilliant flashes of humour. Referring to a priest who preached on the subject of indulgences, he quipped: “The reverend gentleman, proceeding in his discourse, …was pleased to ask - is there any man in this city so infamous - so blasphemous - as to assert the sale of indulgences? - and he was further pleased to add, I am amazed such a one has not been struck dead in the pulpit where he stood. Now I am that daring person - and that I am still alive is most certain - which I impute to the thunderbolt, fortunately for me, being placed in the hands of Heaven, and not in those of the reverend gentleman - but there are some people on whom argument, admonition, and even the mildest expressions of Christian zeal (like those of the reverend gentleman) are utterly thrown away - and truly I fear I am among that number, for with the hardened and shameless obstinacy of a heretic as I am - I am about not only to repeat my assertion but, worst of all, to prove it. I hold in my hand, and shall translate to you, a copy of a Bull of Pope Urban the Eighth - perhaps my Roman Catholic hearers would rather wish that I should read it in the original Latin, but in compassion to my Protestant brethren who are not so expert in that tongue from having the misfortune to offer up their prayers in a language they understand, they shall have it in English.” These discourses, we believe, were amongst the finest ever heard in Dublin. Never before, since the time of Dean Kirwan, had such crowds been seen at St.Peter'’. Despite the severe weather, people of all persuasions flocked to the church and listened spellbound to this prince of preachers. In his obituary it was said that “did he leave no other monument whereon to rest his fame, these sermons alone would be sufficient.” They were all the more remarkable when it is realized that he delivered them during a spell of sickness. In the months that followed his health continued to disimprove and he died on the 30th October, 1824. His death was hastened by his having taken a lotion containing a large quantity of laudanum in mistake for medicine intended for the stomach. He was only forty two at the time of his death. The Archbishop of Dublin was anxious that he should have a public funeral but his widow declined the honour. Many anecdotes have been related about Maturin’s idiosyncrasies and the extraordinary life which he led. Some have even gone so far as to say that he chose the wrong profession - that he was more at home on the stage than in the pulpit. It is certainly true that he was fond of dancing and theatricals. It is also true that the patience of influential friends who tried to help him was often sorely taxed because of his eccentric habits. Nobody can read his sermons, however, without realizing that he was a man of vigorous faith and deep personal piety, thoroughly versed in the Scriptures. It is unfortunate that his renown as an orator has been entirely eclipsed by his renown as a novelist and playwright. In the galaxy of Irish preachers he is deserving of a prominent place.
The following are the names of his children:-
111311) Rev: William Basil Kingsbury Maturin. First son of Rev: Charles Robert Maturin. Born 1806 (sic - see below). Entered Trin: Coll: Dub: Nov 3, 1823. B.A. Vern. 1831. M.A., B.D. and D.D. Æst 1866 (sic). Perpetual Curate of Grangegorman, Dublin 1843. Sometime editor of the “Irish Ecclesiastical Journal”. Author of “Six Lectures on the Events of Holy Week”. Librarian of Archbishop Marsh’s Library, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, 1872. Died July 1887. Married Jane Cook, daughter of Capt. Robert Bentley, F.I.C.S.
Dictionary of National Biography: “MATURIN, William (1803 - 1887), divine; son of Charles Robert Maturin; MA and DD, Dublin, 1866; was made perpetual curate of Grangegorman, 1844; librarian in Archbishop Marsh’s library, Dublin, 1860; Tractarian.”.
Rev. Combe states: William ... was educated first privately and then at Dublin University, where he graduated in 1831. He served his first curacy in the church of St.Stephen’s, Upper Mount Street, which was then a fashionable parish with a high-church tradition, situated in Dublin’s most aristocratic district and supported by its wealthiest citizens. He and his colleague, the Reverend Frank Woodward, “quickly attracted attention” for their “earnestness, assiduity, devotion ……as well as for their striking abilities”. In 1844 the Reverend William Lefanu, Rector of St.Paul’s, presented him to the perpetual curacy of All Saints’, Grangegorman. It would be difficult to imagine a greater dissimilarity between any father and son than between Charles and William Maturin. The story that William destroyed his father’s unpublished works, though probably apocryphal, is very much in keeping with what is known of these two men. In private life Charles was gay and frolicsome, whereas William was sober and ascetic; in churchmanship Charles was a staunch Protestant, whereas William was a rigid Tractarian; in literary style Charles was florid and flamboyant, whereas William was severely restrained. In contrast to St.Stephen’s, the parish of Grangegorman, where William ministered for 43 years, was one of the poorest in Dublin, yielding him the modest sum of £100 per annum. During the earlier years of his ministry Richard Whately was Archbishop of Dublin. Whately, who was a strong-minded Protestant, had little sympathy for Maturin and during his administration he was given no promotion. Maturin is said to have antagonised Whately by attempting to thrust his opinions on him. At the time of his death it was said that had he exercised more discretion he himself would probably have been raised to the episcopate. Richard Chevinix Trench, who succeeded Whately in 1864, was much more favourably disposed towards the curate of Grangegorman and offered him some attractive livings but by then Maturin felt himself too old for changes. In 1872 some of his friends procured for him the additional post of Librarian at Marsh’s Library, thereby supplementing his stipend. William Maturin was President of the Irish Church Society, a newly-formed group of Tractarian sympathisers. The closing years of the 1860’s, so momentous for the Church of Ireland, were also eventful ones in the parish of All Saints’. During Maturin’s incumbency a new word “Grangegormanism” had been coined as a synonym for “ritualism”. On Sunday, 8th April, 1866, a large crowd of Protestant fanatics assembled at St.Bride’s Church, Dublin, intent on breaking up the service. The Rector, the Reverend W.G.Carroll, was continually heckled with cries of “No Popery” and “No Puseyism”, and bookmarkers decorated with crosses were torn out. All Saints’, Grangegorman, became the next object of their attack. Maturin had forestalled them to some extent, for when they arrived at All Saints’ some weeks later, the church was closely guarded by police. As soon as the point was reached in the service when the versicles and responses were being intoned, these intruders raised their voices in such a way as to drown the voices of the choir. With an admirable combination of patience and firmness, Maturin remonstrated with them, pleading with them to be quiet and to join reverently in the service. He warned them, however, that if they persisted in creating a disturbance, the police would have to take action. In the end six persons were arrested. Things were brought to a head in 1872 when Maturin was accused of violating the new statutes of the Church of Ireland because of various irregularities in the conduct of Divine Service at Grangegorman. Early that summer, the trial, the first to be held since Disestablishment, took place at the Consistorial Court, Henrietta Street. The Court was composed of the Archbishop of Dublin as President, Dr.Sattersby, the Chancellor of the Diocese, as his assessor, and Dean West of St.Patrick’s and Judge Longfield as jurors. Maturin was charged with having at certain times turned his back on the congregation, namely, at the beginning of the Communion Service and during the Prayer of Consecration, and also with having placed crosses on the altar cloth and over the communion table. Maturin did not appear either in person or by counsel, having previously lodged a protest in which he denied the power of the Court to try him. On the 12th September judgement was pronounced against him by Archbishop Trench. From now onwards he was expressly forbidden to pray with his back to the congregation. But this censure failed to have any effect. The Holy Communion Service continued to be celebrated at All Saints’ in the same manner as though nothing had happened. William Maturin survived Disestablishment by seventeen years. He died at Alma House, Monkstown, on the 30th June, 1887, and was buried four days later. It is impossible to do justice to the life and witness of William Maturin within the compass of a biographical sketch. While many may challenge his opinions, none can question his sincerity and devotion. His Ministry was remarkable for three main reasons. First of all, because of the exceptionally high standard of preaching which he maintained. So excellent were his sermons that even though in later years he preached them over and over again, nobody objected to hearing them repeated. Though occasionally tinctured by sacerdotalist ideas, his pulpit ministrations, on the whole, were non-controversial. One of his sincerest admirers was Sir J.P.Mehaffy, the Provost of Trinity College. Mehaffy regarded him as “the greatest preacher of the Irish Church”, declaring that his style equalled that of “Newman’s in purity, and far surpassed it in fire”. His Ministry was remarkable in the second place because of the number of new trends which he set. Several practices instigated by him (e.g. the observance of Holy Week and Saints’ Days, the reading of the daily offices) are now accepted as part of the normal pattern of church life. He and his curate, Henry Hogan, were the first clergymen in Ireland to dispense with the custom of wearing the black preaching gown during the sermon, a custom which has since died out entirely. But perhaps the most significant aspect of his Ministry was the influence he exerted over several notable persons. One of the most zealous members of his congregation was Thomas Lavallin D'Arcy. Although he resided at Ginnet’s Park in Co.Meath, he rented a house in All Saints’ parish in order to gain a legal standing in the affairs of the church. His son, Bertram, acted as honorary curate at Grangegorman and he himself served for a time as churchwarden, vigorously defending the incumbent against his opponents. A younger brother of Thomas, who also attended the church, became the father of Charles Frederick D’Arcy, Archbishop of Armagh. One of the members of All Saints’ choir in Dr.Maturin’s time was the celebrated Robert Dolling. A curious blend of Anglo-catholicism and evangelicalism, he earned a high reputation for his evangelistic labours in the slums of Portsmouth and Poplar. A still more interesting member of the congregation was the enigmatic George Tyrrell, who subsequently became a Jesuit but was afterwards excommunicated by the Vatican for his modernistic teaching. In his autobiography Tyrrell frankly acknowledged that he first acquired an interest in religion under Maturin’s Ministry. Maturin offered him spiritual counsel and did all in his power to dissuade him from joining the Church of Rome. To the end of his days Tyrrell retained cherished memories of All Saints’ Church and its devoted pastor. Of William Maturin it can truly be said that his influence extended over the whole of the Church of Ireland and also far beyond. The complete entry by Rev. Comb is set out as an appendix.
William’s and Jane’s family is as follows:-
1113111) Fidelia Maturin, (born about 1845 - 1881 census - aged 36 as a Sister of Mercy at Clewer, Berks).
1113112) Charles Gabriel Trewman Maturin, born about 1846. T.C.D. B.A. 1868. St Edmund’s Hall, Oxford, incorp. 23 Apr 1869 aged 23, B.A. 1868. Deacon 1869, Priest 1870 in diocese of Winchester; curate at Richmond, Surrey 1869-72.. (1881 census - lodger aged 35 at 5 Bloomfield Place, St George Hanover Sq, London), Curate St Barnabas College Pimlico, London 1875. In late 1885 a marriage at St George Hanover Square is noted but the bride is not named. In Kelly’s directory for 1900 it states “The living (of Amcotts, Lincolnshire) was declared a rectory April 3, 1866, net yearly value from 122 acres of glebe £300, with residence, in the gift of the Crown, and held since 1885, by the Rev. Charles Gabriel Trewman Maturin B.A. of Trinity College, Dublin. A special rate of 1d. in the £ is levied here for church expenses”. 1901 census Charles Gabriel, aged 55, at the Vicarage, Amcotts with: Emma H Maturin wife, aged 40, born in London Edwina J Martin aged 25 Housemaid, born in London Sarah A Swithinbank aged 22, Cook, born in Leeds .
1113113) William Basil Maturin, born 15 Feb 1847 in Dublin. Trin: Coll: Dub:. B.A. 1870. Deacon and priest 1871 by Bishop of Hereford; curate at Peterslow, Ross 1871-73. Curate St John, Cowley, Oxon 1873. Curate at St. Clement’s, Philadelphia, 1876- 81, Rector there from 1881. On the Ellis Island lists he is recorded as arriving in New York on Feb 2 1913 on the Carmania from Liverpool and on the Lusitania from Liverpool on Feb 20 1915. He drowned on “Lusitania” May 7, 1915.
Edmund notes him as “William Basil”, with a brother Basil who died in 1880, see below. On the Ellis Island lists and the Dic. Nat. Biog. he is noted as “Basil Wm”. In the Memoriam for Henry Gabriel Maturin he is named as “Basil” and described as of “St. James' Spanish Place, London (sometime mission priest of the Society of St. John the Evangelist, Cowley, Oxford). He was a brilliant preacher and writer, author of "Laws of the Spiritual Life," "Practical Studies on the Parables of Our Lord," "Some Principals and Practices of the Spiritual Life," "Self-Knowledge and Self-Discipline," "The Price of Unity," "The Fruits of the Life of Prayer," etc. He lost his life through the sinking of the Lusitania, as he was returning from New York after holding a mission. He was seen alive for the last time, just before the doomed vessel took her final plunge, standing upon one of the decks, with hand upraised giving the Extreme Unction to the souls about to enter eternity. His body was recovered.”
Dictionary of National Biography: “MATURIN, Basil William (1847 - 1915), Catholic preacher and writer; BA, Trinity College, Dublin; ordained, 1870; member of Society of St John the Evangelist, Cowley, 1873-97; received into Roman Church, 1897; ordained, 1898; torpedoed on Lusitania returning from third visit to America.”
1113114) Arthur Maturin, died Feb 16,1868.
1113115) Basil Maturin, died April 10, 1880.
1113116) Francis Edward Maturin, born in Ireland about 1860. Trin : Coll: Dub 1883: deacon 1884, priest 1885 at St Albans. Curate at St Michael’s, Walthamstow 1884-85; curate at St Peter’s, Vauxhall (Kennington Lane, Lambeth) 1888 - 1895 (Curate’s licence 17 Dec 1888 held at London Metroplitan Archives). Acted for a short time (1886 - 1888) as (his father’s) curate at All Saints’ but afterwards served in England. 1901 census at 153 Warwick Street (in the parish of St George, Hanover Sq) Francis aged 41 with sister Jane H aged 52 (Harriet Louisa Jane), Mary E G aged 47 and Katherine Magher and Jane Rochford as cook and parlourmaid both aged 36 and born in Ireland. Died in second quarter 1906 in Hanover Square aged 46.
1113117) Harriet Louisa Jane Maturin
1113118) Mary Maturin, newspaper clipping records the death “on June 11 1943 at 6 Bloomfield Terrace SW1 Mary Elizabeth Geraldine Maturin, youngest daughter of William Maturin of Grangegorman, Co Dublin. Requiem 8.00 a.m., funeral 11.00 a.m. On Thursday June 17 at St Mary’s, Bourne Street, Sloane Sq. SW1” - but definite identification is still needed.
1113119) Harriet Maturin,
111311T) Ellen Geraldine Maturin. Died June 3, 1880
111312) Edward Maturin. Second son of Rev: Charles Robert Maturin. Born 1812. Entered Trin: Coll: Dub: Oct 22, 1827. B.A. Æst. 1832. Interviewed by Sir Walter Scott. Emigrated to USA. Professor of Greek at Charleston, South Carolina and New York. Revised translation of St Mark’s Gospel for American Bible Union; author of “Montezuma, the Last of the Aztecs” (1845), “The Irish Chieftain - or the Isles of Life and Death” (Glasgow 1848), “Lyrics of Spain and Erin” (Boston 1850) and “Bianca - a tale of Erin and Italy” (1852). His “Spanish Ballads”, published in the United States Democratic Revue Volume 17, Issues 88, 89 & 90, October, November and December 1845 are archived by Cornell University at http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/moa-cgi?notisid=AGD1642-0017-100 Resides in the City of New York, America (1880). Married Harriet, daughter of -- Gailliard of South Carolina USA. Died in New York 1881.
Their issue is as follows:-
1113121) Charles Robert Maturin
1113122) Edwin Maturin. Married Amelia, widow of Charles Hatch. On the Ellis Island lists an Edwin G. Maturin, a US citizen aged 57, is noted as arriving in New York on Jul 10 1908 on the Cedric, from Liverpool, in the company of Lovette Maturin aged 32. 1910 census Edwin G M. born about 1848 noted in Los Angeles.
1113123) Mary Anne Maturin
111313) Fidelia Maturin. Elder daughter of Rev: Charles Robert Maturin. Died unmarried July, 1836
111314) Louisa Maturin. Married to John Henry Walker Esq. M.D. of Tunbridge, Kent. 18 Dec 1854 at Grangegorman by William Maturin. (Since resides at Bray, Dublin).
11132) William Peter Maturin, 2nd son of William Maturin Esq. Assistant Commissary to the Forces serving in Ireland, Oct 13, 1803. (“Gents. Mag.” Oct 1803 p. 1081). Undated record as ”Commissary” stationed on Bere Island, County Cork, with his wife. Afterwards Deputy Commissary General. Married Elizabeth, daughter of Capt. Colin Jones of Carriglwyd, Anglesey. He died at Criccieth in Wales in 1842. She was born in about 1789 in Caernavon. In 1851 she was living with Fidelia, Mary and Harriet at Warn ddu, Criccieth with two servants. By 1861 the household had moved to Ansford, just a mile north of Castle Cary, again with two servants. She died at Bruton, Somerset, Oct 11, 1867 and is buried in the same tomb as her three daughters in Bruton churchyard.
The following are the names of their children:-
111321) Fidelia Maturin, born in Dublin 1809; died Bruton, Somerset, 20 Sep 1873.
111322) Mary Maturin, born In Clonmell, Ireland in 1811; died at Bruton, Somerset, March 2, 1871.
111323) Harriet Maturin, born at Holyhead / Criccieth in 1813; died at Bruton, Somerset, Oct 1866
111324) William Henry Maturin, born 1814 in Athlone, Ireland. Formerly Comptroller H.M. Army. C.B. 1871. Married Oct 2, 1845, Charlotte Owen Bagot, at Koorunga, South Australia. (Charlotte was the daughter of Charles Harvey Bagot of Nurney, Co. Kildare and Mary McCarthy who were married on 23 Nov 1815 at Port Louis, Mauritius; Charles was the son of Christopher Bagot and Elizabeth Clibborn) . Captain H.M. Army. Biographical Index of South Australia 1836-1885, South Australia, 1986: notes that he arrived in Australia in 1843 on the “Elizabeth Buckham” (on the same voyage as his younger brother Augustus); occupation: Deputy Assistant Commissary General; Residence: Port Adelaide, North Adelaide; Religion: Church of England. In the 1851 Army List he is noted as being posted to Assistant Commissary General in South Australia on 26 Dec 1846. Family returned to UK 1857. In 1861 the family, with a cook and housemaid, was living at 45 Inverness Terrace (parallel to Queensway, Bayswater) London but had moved to 5 Courtfield Gardens by 1878 when William was cited in the Times as director of The Queensland Investment and Land Mortgage Company . (1880) Resides in London - 5 Courtfield Gardens, South Kensington. S.W. (1881 Census - at 5 Courtfield Gardens, William H. aged 65; C. “Matarin”, wife, aged 50; daughters M. & C. “Matarin” and sons D.C. & N.H.D. “Matarin” - all born in Australia, plus 3 servants.) In 1873 The Directors of The Dublin Whisky Distillery Company Limited were noted as Mr. George John Alexander, Mr. Mathew H. Chamberlaine, Mr. James Costello, Mr. William H. Maturin, and Mr. O. T. Allingham. Died first quarter of 1889, aged 75, in Kensington. Charlotte died aged 69 in the last quarter of 1893 in Kensington.
Their issue is as follows:-
1113241) Mary Elizabeth Maturin 1881 Census - age 33 born in Australia but Biographical Index of South Australia 1836-1885 states that she was born in 1846.
1113242) Frederick Harvey Maturin, born March 23 1848 in Australia. Colonel in the East Surrey Regiment, he took part in the march to Kandahar and was also conspicuous in the Suakim campaign, after the death of General Gordon. (1871 census in Hampshire; 1881 Census - Frederick H. Maturin, Captain 70 Regiment, aged 38, born Adelaide, Australia was visiting Martinus Hayward, (Landowner), 2 Queens Parade, Cheltenham). 1901 census - in a 4 roomed flat in Earls Court, London only Edith Maturin, as head aged 36 who was living on her own means, with her son, Eric, and Nellie Bates, a servant. Courts report of divorce in Times 13 Oct 1911 states that the marriage to Edith Emily Money (who was born in Nyee Tal, India in about 1865) was on 1 Aug 1882 at St Andrew's church, Darjeeling. In 1896 Frederick retired and they returned to England but in 1900 he took a single posting to Ceylon where he stayed for 2½ years. On his return his reaction to Edith's extravagances led to a demand for a separation and a deed was entered into on 29 Sep 1902 in which Frederick allowed Edith £150 p.a. In December 1910 Edith went to South Africa where she lived with Cecil Porch near Capetown and wrote to Frederick on 25 Dec 1910 informing him of the situation. At the death of the second son, Kay, in 1915, Edith is noted as living at 44 Roland Gardens, South Kensington but Col. Frederick is "late" despite another note that Frederick H. died in London aged 90. Edith Money Maturin is noted as the author of "Her Animated Flat" (1903) and Mrs. Fred Maturin is in www.africabib.org as “Maturin, Edith (Money) / Mrs Cecil Porch (British) author of Adventures Beyond the Zambesi, of the O'Flaherty, the Insular, the Soldier Man, and the Rebel-Woman. London/New York: Eveleigh Nash/Brentano's. 1913. 391p. (travels in Zambia and Zimbabwe); also Petticoat Pilgrims on Trek. London: Eveleigh Nash. 1909. 335p. (travels in Lesotho and South Africa). Copies of “Love Microbes” - 48.09; “Thin Red Line of Heroes” - 70.14. by Edith (Money) Maturin are held at the Library of the University of North Carolina.
11132421) Eric Bagot Maturin, actor. Born in Nani-tal India May 30 1883. 1901 census noted as aged 17, an insurance office clerk. Recorded on the Ellis Island lists arriving in New York: Jan 1 1905 on the Philadelphia from Southampton , Nov 15 1906 on the Baltic from Liverpool Nov 17 1907 on the St Paul from Southampton - noted as “married” Jan 15 1910 on the St Louis from Southampton Aug 22 1914 on the St Louis from Liverpool
Appeared on Broadway: Love & the Man, Feb 20 1905 at the Knickerbocker for 22 perfs Myself - Bettina, Oct 5 - 1 Nov 1908 at Daly’s for 32 perfs Mid Channel, Jan 31 1910 at Empire for 96 perfs The Elder Son, Sep 15 1914 at Playhouse for 23 perfs
Established in the silent movies in the UK, and appeared in: Wisp o' the Woods (1919) .... Captain Arthur Mason His House in Order (1928 Squeaker, The (1930) .... Frank Sutton Beyond the Cities (1930) .... Hector Braydon Girl in the Night, The (1931) .... Fenton Face at the Window, The (1932) .... Count Fournal Flaw, The (1933) .... James Kelver Youthful Folly (1934) .... Tim Gierson Love, Life and Laughter (1934) .... The Director Sanders of the River (1935) .... Smith Price of a Song, The (1935) .... Nevern City of Beautiful Nonsense (1935) .... Robert Downing Contraband (1940) .... Passport Officer ... aka Blackout (1940) (USA) Foreman Went to France, The (1942) (uncredited) ... aka Somewhere in France (1942) Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, The (1943) .... Colonel Goodhead ... aka Colonel Blimp (1945) (USA) Canterbury Tale, A (1944) .... Geoffrey's Father Last Holiday (1950) .... Wrexham
He joined the Royal Field Artillery shortly after the outbreak of the Great War. After 2 years 4 months service in UK and being commissioned Lieutenant, he saw 11 months service in Mesopatamia. In August 1917 he was invalided back to the UK, suffering from Neurasthenia. A medical board in Norwich in November 1917 passed him fit for Anti-aircraft defence duty but he returned to hospital in Edgbaston, Birmingham in Feb 1918 with a recurrence of the symptoms. At that point his permanent address was given as 19 Southend, St. Albans Road, Kensington. By 3 June 1918 he was considered to be permanently unfit for further service and that he should relinquish his commission, though he retained the honorary rank of lieutenant and permission to wear uniform on "ceremonials and entertainments of a military nature".
He initiated a lively correspondence in The Times, see below.
The only personal detail available is that he was 5’11". Died in London Oct 17 1957.
11132422) William K Maturin (Kay) born in Kingston, Surrey in about 1886 (he was at school in Tunbridge, Kent, aged 15 in the 1901 census. Lieutenant in the Uganda Police Service when he died on 29 January 1915. Buried at St James churchyard Mbarara, Uganda.
1132423) Charles Gordon Maturin (Sunny) - born Kingston, Surrey, 27 Jan 1887. Died at school in Tunbridge first quarter 1900. Edith was greatly affected by his death and wrote about her seance contact with him in "Rachel Comforted: Conversations of a Mother in the Dark with Her Child in the Light" (a shortened version is on Google Books).
1113243) William MacCarthy Maturin, born Oct 13, 1850 in Australia. In April 1864 he was nominated to naval cadetship and on the following 8 Jun he is listed in the first-class cadets passing out from Eastmaur Naval Acadamy, Southsea. 1871 census - noted as an acting sub-lieutenant on HMS Excellent in Portsmouth. A Times report in Feb 1882 refers to derring-do in the South Seas by Commander Maturin of HMS Beagle. In 1885 he was praised for his contribution to the efficiency of the naval transports up to attack on Suakin, Sudan. In 1891 he was Commander on HMS Ajax and a note on Royal Navy ships in service 1894 he was Commander of HMS Penelope.) 1901 census (at what appears to be a small school with 6 boarders, two teachers and the principal M A Gribble) at 33 Plymouth Road, Penarth, Glamorgan (“aged 49” with Mary aged 37). By May 1904 he had been appointed Assistant Director of Transports .
Mary Frederica, the second of the Beaumont sisters, was born in Kensington, London 3rd qtr 1863. She married William on 26 Sept 1899 in Huddersfield, when he was nearly 50. She died aged 42 in 2nd qtr 1906. Dora Maria, the elder sister married James Worsley Pennyman (the heir to Ormesby Hall) on 6 Oct 1882 and was mother to "Jimbo" Pennyman.
Haidee Maria Beaumont married the Rev. William Outram, Vicar of St. George's Barnsley, Yorkshire on 12 June 1906 (presumably shortly after or before this photo was taken?).
The photo shows Captain Bill Maturin, Rev Willy Outram and 2nd Lt J B Pennyman at a Levée in 1906. Teesside Archives CB Maturin ref U.PEN (3)/28/32
Had family:
11132431) Charles Bagot Beaumont Maturin(Jack) born 2 Dec 1902 in Kensington, London. He was only 3 and his sister, Mary, under 2 years old when their mother died in Marylebone on 4 April 1906 at the age of just 43. The 56 year-old William did not remarry and it seems that the two very young children were taken almost immediately up to their aunt, Mary Frederica’s sister Dora Maria, who had married James Worsely Pennyman and lived at Ormesby Hall (near Middlesborough). William’s appointment as Assistant Director of Transports for the Royal Navy in May 1904 must have kept him in London during their childhood. The children were initially educated by a governess, only later going on to formal school. At present it is not clear which school Molly attended. In September 1916, at the age therefore of 13, Jack went to Stanley House of Wellington College until he left in 1919 Jack (from the evidence of his photograph album) regarded Ormesby Hall as his home during the 1920s and (from family hearsay) again in the early ‘30s.
Mollie - Mary Maturin. Bridget, Dulcie & Diana - the daughters of Henry Beaumont
B Flight at Cranwell 1921/2
From 1920 he attended the RAF College, being appointed a Pilot Officer on 16 August 1922 and a Flying Officer on 16 February 1924, but on 4 June that year he resigned his commission. The photograph album from the Pennyman papers at Teesside Archives (1) includes family pictures taken at Ormesby Hall in 1921 and 1922 and then at the RAF Aerodrome at Cranwell, particularly of 'B' Flight. There is also perhaps a little hero-worship with a photo of the Great War flying ace Lionel Wilmot Brabazon Rees (VC OBE MC AFC).
On 27 November 1924 the 21 year-old Jack left Southampton on the Corinthic for Wellington, New Zealand. Though noted with "farming" as an occupation on the passenger documents, family hearsay remembers him as a teacher. He married at Wellington on 14 Jan 1928. The announcement in the local paper again referred to him as "Jack" and that Joan was the daughter of Mr & Mrs Harper of The Hill, Karori, Wellington. It is uncertain when they returned to UK but on 11 November 1929 they sailed from Liverpool on the Antenor bound for Hong Kong. Jack was described as a 'Representative' but, at present, neither his employer nor commodity is not known. He appears to have had the Far East as his area since their son, Anthony, was born in Manilla. The family had returned to Britain by the time Verity Gillian was born in Darlington in September 1931. In December 1933 the Register of Wellington College records his address as Dovercourt, Hurworth, Co Durham (3 miles south-east of Darlington on the River Tees).
Shortly after Gillian's birth Jack and Joan's marriage fell apart and they separated (though one report refers to him "abandoning his family in 1933"). Jack's father, William, died in June 1932. He left approximately £6,000 (after other legacies) to be divided in equal shares between Jack and Mary. £3,000 then might be worth about £120,000 in 2007 (but at that time could have bought a terrace of ten houses at £300 each for letting) but it appears that Jack invested in a business called I.M.S. Radio Company of Lattimore Road, St Albans, Hertfordshire. In July 1935 Charles Bagot Beaumont Maturin, company director, was declared bankrupt. He gave his address as the Ver Hotel, Holywell Hill, St Albans but “lately residing at” Hatchetts, Worting, near Basingstoke. This last was the home of an entrepreneurial Naval Officer, Commander Jan Herbert Farquharson Kent who took out patents on the manufacture of rubber tyres and later became president of the “Retreat Manufacturers Association” which apparently looked after reusing tyre rubber. Commander Kent may have been a colleague and contemporary of Captain William. There is no evidence on the Electoral Roll of Charles actually living at Hatchetts in the time between 1935 and 1939 while court notices were appearing about his finances. He paid a first and final dividend of 2s-10½d in the £ on 12 December 1939. War had been declared on 3 September; Jack was re-commissioned as a pilot officer (74534) in the RAF on 26 September 1939. It appears that he used his first RAF salary to release himself from bankruptcy.
Jack with his niece at Masham in December 1937
In the meantime Joan and the children stayed in Britain, possibly initially with James Beaumont Pennyman (Uncle Jimbo) and his wife Ruth at Ormesby Hall as there was a family report that the childless couple offered to adopt Anthony (see below). After a brief return to New Zealand in 1933 Joan and the two children lived in London from where she sued for divorce and, in an undefended case, legally parted from her husband on July 11 1938. On 1 February 1939 she finally returned to Auckland, New Zealand on the S.S. Rangitata with both children.
RAF service obviously suited Jack as he was quickly promoted, “for the duration of hostilities”, to Flying Officer on 7 February 1940 and from Flight Lieutenant to Squadron Leader on 20 September 1942. A family report refers to him being appointed an ADC to Lord Mountbatten.
Peacetime served him less well. In a Brief News item in The Times, 21 Apr 1955, an intriguing case was dropped against Lady Flavia Seton, aged 52, (CBBM was 53) wife of Sir Alexander Hay Seton, who was found Not Guilty of fraudulent embezzlement of £8 and £4 14s 6d received by her "on account of Charles BBM". The Daily Mirror for that day refers to him as a “Kensington guest house owner” and implies that he was suing his “old friend” Lady Seton. The Setons divorced in 1958.
On 21 Nov 1962 a further report appeared in The Times that “Charles” and his wife (Elizabeth Mary Ann Maturin according to the death certificate) had been found dead in the Regent Palace Hotel, Glasshouse Street, Westminster on 19 November. It is unlikely that they had settled the room bill in advance. The post-mortem revealed self-administered pheno barbitone poisoning in both of them; the certificate gave their permanent address as 44 Rosary Gardens, Kensington SW7, about 400 yards from where his father had died 30 years before. He was to be summonsed the following day for the fraudulent conversion of five sums totaling £4883 (about £80,000 now) from trustees of the marriage settlement of Edgar and Cicely Wigan; a further sum of £500 (£8,500 now) had been obtained from Barclays Bank on false pretences. Cicely was a distant Bagot relation (2) who in 1909 had married her young neighbour from across Richmond Park, Edgar Wigan, a hop merchant moving in Society and regularly attending Court at Buckingham Palace. There had been a previous marriage settlement in 1899 when William MacCarthy Maturin had married Mary Beaumont, the “fourth part” of which included Charles Harvey Bagot (Cicely’s father). At present it can only be surmised that it was this document which was linked to the Wigan marriage settlement and CBBM’s attempted sting.
Theodora Joan was still alive in 1983, living in Christchurch New Zealand.
111324311) Anthony Maturin. Born in Manilla. Based in Wellington, New Zealand in 2007 but has travelled widely in Vanatu, Central America and Iraq. He has supported work by the VSA (the NZ version of the Voluntary Service Overseas) in Cambodia and now in the East Cape of South Africa. See http://www.quaker.org.nz/publications/a-certain-grace-by-anthony-maturin . Has living family. His memories of Ormesby Hall follow.
My memories of Ormesby Hall are sparse to say the least. I can’t even remember my age at the time. I do remember being in New Zealand staying with my Harper grandparents in Wellington for six months or so at the age of about three, and presume that the Ormesby period was after our return to the UK. Photographs of that time would seem to confirm this. Of course I suppose we could have spent time there before the New Zealand trip. Anyway – memories : Gill, who was eighteen months younger than me, and I had little to do with Uncle Jimbo and Aunt Ruth, or even our mother for that matter. We always had a Nanny and more or less lived in the Nursery, Gill and I having separate though adjoining bedrooms. Mine contained a most beautiful single four poster bed with a pattern of dark red parrots and greenery on the canopy, which I used to gaze at contentedly for hours it seemed. The nanny I remember, and probably the only one except for her holiday periods, was called Beth. A lovely person, strict but kind who gave us to understand that “I have eyes in the back of my head.” And so it seemed, because we got away with nothing, and tried to spot those eyes under the bun she always wore. I don’t think I was a particularly naughty child, but remember being sent to bed on at least one occasion without my tea. I remember too an especially noisy thunder storm one night, being frightened and beseeching Beth to let me sleep with her, to no avail as far as I recall, but instead comfort or threats or both until I must have fallen asleep. I remained frightened of thunder and lightning until well into adulthood, but never blamed Beth for that! It was Beth who taught me to read, from a story of a very hairy English Sheep dog called Bob, lessons which were followed by multiplication tables, and probably mildly objected to. Our mother only came into the picture, in my memories, when she came to say goodnight, and taught me my prayers kneeling at her knee. Fond memories. On one occasion, I think it must have been one of the maids who took me for a walk, with my trike, down to the village, where she met, probably her young man, and they teased me unmercifully – I guess for being a spoiled brat – and pushed me howling unashamedly in front of them with their feet on the trike’s axle, so that the whole outing was accompanied by floods of (spoiled) tears. The experiment wasn’t repeated. The annual motorbike race sticks in my memory because I was sitting with a group of visitors on the low stone wall across the drive in front of the house, when one unfortunate rider took the curve too fast with the result that he disappeared spectacularly, head first, into the holly bush, and I presume butted into the stones of the house wall, because he was carried off on a stretcher. The whole episode of course aroused my excitement, but was hushed up to protect my innocence. The other annual event that sticks in memory, was the Xmas party given to all the children in the village. There were long tables with places for each child, and a hole had been cut in the ceiling to accommodate the height of the Xmas tree under which were presents for all, and mothers waited on the children, giving all plates laden with goodies. The butler advanced to the centre table bearing on high the flaming Xmas pudding, and a kind lady whisked away from me my pudding plate saying, “You funny little boy. Don’t you like cherries?” because I’d, as has always been my habit, saved the best for the last. I remember spending quite long periods with ‘the servants’, in their spacious rooms down a long stone-flagged passage separated from the house by a green baize-lined swinging door, and that the butler was nicknamed Crackers and there was a man under him. Uncle Jimbo and Aunt Ruth’s personal maid was named Violet I think, and of course there was a cook, kitchen maid and chauffer who’s domain was the garage and who used to put up with my playing endlessly at driving the Bentley(?) car. I seem to remember a row of horse stalls in a stone stable, but probably wasn’t allowed there on my own. I do remember our being taken for a spin in the new car when it arrived, and everyone admiring its power. A large, blue-painted wooden toy truck looms large in my memories of the Hall servants’ quarters, because one day when the family had all gone out somewhere and I was left in charge of the servants, I was pushing the toy as fast as I could, running up and down the flag-stones of the passage, when the front wheels came up against an obstruction of some kind, stopped, and I went head first over the front and made an untidy landing on my nose, which remains crooked to this day from the incident. The Pageant was a magnificent occasion, though I can’t now remember what it commemorated. Obviously a historic battle involving fluttering pennants and mounted knights in armour who galloped up and down the field and jousted in all directions amongst the flying turves, with a suitable number of ‘casualties’ lying around, who’s number I was exhorted to join. But in spite of being promised a wooden sword, my fears of being galloped on won the day, and I remained un-wounded and fascinated, tittilatingly frightened by the violence of the action and the colours, and a spectator from a vantage point safer than that of hoof level. On a different level altogether, was the occasion when I was with a small group, probably of the staff, enjoying tea on the lawn. I was playing with a wooden engine, stoking the boiler with geranium petals – well they were red anyway – saying as I put each one into the firebox, “Shove it in. Shove more in.” Perfectly aware that the use of the word, ‘shove’ was causing some mild consternation, though couldn’t see why. Until I was told firmly that I shouldn’t say ‘shove’. It was rough. ‘Put’ would be much better. I don’t know how long we stayed at the Hall, but we felt much loved and it was a nicely settled period in our lives. Years later, in New Zealand when I was about twelve, my mother told me one day that Uncle Jimbo had written to say that he would like to adopt me, and what did I think of the idea. It came at a time when I was much attracted to the notion of the Fleet Air Arm for a career, and I supposed such a move might assist in that, also I remembered being fond of the Pennymans, but although the proposition had its attractions and I was grateful for the offer, it didn’t take much reflection to decide that I preferred the family to stay together. I knew that life wasn’t easy for my mother and had no intention of leaving her. Besides, I remember that something made me think, “there are no other Maturins in New Zealand, I’d rather try to make something of the name than change it now.” We were New Zealanders.
111324312) Verity Gillian Maturin (Gillian). Born in 28 September 1931 at Darlington, Co Durham. She was with her mother when she returned to Auckland, New Zealand in 1939. A photograph of her “Coming Out” and presentation at Government House was sent to her Aunt Mary (Fuller). A mystery arises as to why Gillian should suddenly leave home in the early 1950s, travel to London and walk straight into the post of secretary to Sir Winston Churchill. Family report states that there had been no communication between the children and their father since the early ‘30s. Such posts were generally filled by personal recommendation and introduction. There are several possibilities:
a) The Pennymans at Ormesby Hall or the Beaumonts may have had previously unknown connections (3) b) Churchill’s secretary from 1952 was Sir Anthony Montague-Browne who had been a pilot in the RAF and may have known CBBM c) Sir Anthony was seconded from the Foreign Office to Churchill; both men will have known Adelaide Maturin (111127123) who was a senior officer in the Propaganda section of the Special Operations Executive throughout the War and effectively managed the Information Research Department of the Foreign Office from 1948 until her retirement in 1970. d) Adelaide’s brother, Benjamin, had a parallel RAF career to CBBM both ending as Squadron Leaders but there is no definite information on their postings. It would seem unlikely that two men with such an unusual name could avoid meeting at some stage over six years of war e) Adelaide's father, Francis Henry Maturin (1112712), a Lieutenant Colonel in WW1 may have known William MacCarthy Maturin, perhaps through the United Services Club.
Gillian was one of a number of secretaries who worked for the great man; she did accompany him on holiday to the south of France, looking after the parrot (which had to travel by train while the rest of the party flew) and earned a signed and dedicated copy of “The History of the Second World War”. It is unclear if it was the pressure of this job which led to her first nervous breakdown. She was later admitted to Friern Barnet Mental Hospital. It was from there that she “went missing” and arrived at the Granville Hotel, St Margarets-at-Cliffe near Dover, Kent on 18 May 1985. She had previously told friends that she felt that she could not cope and was a burden to her them and her family, making a number of threats to end her own life and tried at least once to do so. Her body was found the next morning with tights around her neck (4). Her friends posthumously collected her poems and published them in 1986 as a 16 page booklet called “Some Love and Wonder”. Though deposited copies are kept in The British Library and The Bodleian copyright laws forbid the copying of more than 5% (i.e. less than a page in this case) without permission from the author or the literary executor, neither of whom are available. No second-hand copy has so far come to light.
1) Teesside Archives CB Maturin ref U.PEN (3)/28/12 2) Cicely Margaret Bagot was born in 1878 in West Bengal, India, the daughter of Captain Charles Harvey Bagot of the Indian Army and Laura Mildred (Daniel). Charles Harvey was the son of Christopher Michael Bagot, one of the pioneering settlers of South Australia. Cicely and her sister Beatrice were sent home to stay with their grandfather’s brother, great-uncle Charles Samuel Bagot and great-aunt Lucy at The Gables, Upper Sheen (bordering Richmond Park) (1881 census). Charles Samuel made a fortune by discovering, in 1842, the richest vein of copper ore ever found in South Australia, but decided to capitalise on that by becoming a barrister in London. He was knighted in 1903 having been appointed Professional Commissioner in Lunacy in 1877 (www.mdx.ac.uk/WWW/STUDY/6biol.htm et al). William MacCarthy Maturin’s mother was Charlotte Owen Bagot, sister of Christopher Michael and Charles Samuel. 3) Everilda Maria (Dora and Mary Frederica’s sister) had married Arthur Gorrell-Barnes in 1891. Mary Fuller’s daughter and a Gorrell-Barnes cousin met Gill in London in the 1960s. The connection between Arthur and senior civil servant William Gorrell-Barnes is not yet known. 4) Dover Express 31 May 1985
11132432) Mary Gabrielle Charlotte Maturin Mary Gabrielle Charlotte Maturin was the second child of William MacCarthy Maturin and Mary Frederica (Beaumont) born in Kensington, London in the winter of 1904. When her mother died she and her brother were taken to Ormesby Hall to be brought up by her mother’s sister, Dora Maria Pennyman. Mary, always known as Molly, used to tell her family of being brought breakfast on a tray by a footman, being looked after by the nanny and then the governess. The nanny, Elizabeth Ridout, later looked after Molly’s own children and stayed with the family until she retired to her relatives in the Midlands. Molly was educated by a governess until she was about 14 when she briefly went to school. At 18 she gave Ormesby Hall, Middlesborough, as her address when she sailed on the “Koningen der Nederlanden” to Genoa with her father on 5 February 1924. It became a regular winter holiday for father and daughter to board a ship of the Royal Dutch Mail Line at Southampton (bound for Jakarta or Java), disembark at Genoa and stay at Rapallo, 35 kms east of the port. Dora’s husband, James, died on 6 March 1924. Molly became a companion to her widowed aunt, whom she called affectionately Andrée, and moved with her to The Glebe House at Masham, near Bedale, North Yorkshire; James Beaumont Worsley Pennyman and his wife, Ruth, took over Ormesby Hall. Though she was very close to Dora her family remember that there was rarely any reference to her uncle James. Molly was still living at Masham in 1928. Her brother, Jack, took the photograph of “Mollie and Midge Sept 1921” at Ormesby Hall (5 - page 1). Midge was a Pomeranian. To make a change Mary had at least one other sea voyage with her father, to Algiers in November 1926, (unless they merely had a change of scenery and transshipped there for Genoa). Father and daughter must have moved in the same circles of society in respectively the Royal Navy and North Yorkshire as Admiral Sir Cyril Fuller and his family.
Mollie and Midge - in dressing-up clothes Sept 1921 Teesside Archives CB Maturin ref U.PEN (3)/28/12
Thomas William was the elder son of Cyril Fuller and Edith Margaret (née Connell). Cyril was born on the Isle of Wight on 22 May 1874, the son of Captain Thomas Fuller of the 18th Hussars. (6) At the age of 13, in 1887, Cyril entered the Navy as a midshipman and served in the battleships Collingwood and Trafalgar in the Mediterranean. Aptitude and success in examinations, particularly in gunnery, led to his appointment as a sub-lieutenant in 1893 and, that same year, to lieutenant at the early age of 18.
Whilst seconded to the senior staff at the gunnery school from January 1902 he took advantage of the shore post to marry Edith Margaret at Chelsea in the autumn of 1902. Subsequent posting took the family to Portsmouth and Elizabeth Mary Margaret was born at Fareham in the winter of 1903, Thomas William arrived in the early spring of 1906, followed by Donald Hamilton in the early spring of 1908.
Promotion was rapid and Cyril achieved the post of commander at 29, Flag Commander at 31 and Captain at 36 in 1911, after which he served for three years on the staff of the Inspector of Target Practice. At the outbreak of the Great War he was in command of the cadet training cruiser Cumberland which was stationed off the Cameroons to support the operations against the German colony. He was so successful that he was asked to transfer ship twice to remain on station, being made CMG in January 1915 and DSO in July 1915 for running the “best run show” of the overseas operations in the war. As Captain he came ashore in 1917 to become Director of the Plans Division and as such was in charge of the British Naval Section at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919-20. Promotion continued to rear-admiral and Third Sea Lord, vice-admiral and Second Sea Lord and finally Admiral in 1930. He had been created KCB in 1928. The early 1930s were a time of enormous unrest in the Navy as the Treaty of London decimated the Service and pay-cuts were imposed in the dreadful conditions arising from the Great Depression; the mutiny at Invergordon took place during Cyril’s watch in charge of Navy personnel - an event which appeared to affect him deeply. He retired on 31 August 1932 to Douthwaite Dale, Hutton-le-Hole, North Yorkshire. He died, aged 68, on 1 February 1942.
Dora Maria Pennyman in Boudoir Feb 1922 Teesside Archives CB Maturin ref U.PEN (3)/28/12
On 15 June 1928 Thomas William was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in the Yorkshire Hussars, Territorial Army, having been an officer cadet with the Cambridge University OTC (7). On the following 21 November his engagement to Mary Maturin of The Glebe House, Masham was announced in The Times. Mary was living at The Glebe House with her aunt (8). Molly and Thomas married at Masham Parish Church on 10 September 1929. The register was witnessed by Captain William Maturin, Donald Hamilton Fuller (Thomas’ brother) and Edith Fuller (their mother). The ceremony was conducted by the Revd William Geoffrey Pennyman - the vicar of St. Mark’s, North Audley Street (then one of the very fashionable churches in London’s Mayfair) who was brother to James Worsley Pennyman. Though Thomas was described as a ship builder of “Lastingham” (which is the ecclesiatical parish for Douthwaite Dale) on the register, he trained as a land agent and this was his profession until the outbreak of War.
When “Captain Bill” Maturin died in June 1932 Thomas was the informant to the registrar; he gave his address as Pepper Miers, Brancepeth, Co Durham (9). Until 1948 that property was owned by Viscount Boyne as part of the Brancepeth Castle Estate and had originally been Brancepeth Farm, first converted to the castle laundry and, in 1923, converted again to two semi-detached houses and a cottage which were let by the Estate. It does seem more likely that the newly-weds had a rented or provided cottage on an estate and that Thomas was on the land agency staff on an estate rather than being a ship builder. The family remembers him as a land agent as well as a shipyard company director.
By the outbreak of War Thomas had been made up to Captain of the Yorkshire Hussars, the rank by which he was known for the rest of his life. He was posted to Palestine in 1940 for an 18 month tour of duty. Returning to Britain from there he had a narrow escape when the ship in front of his was hit and sunk with all hands. There was a possibility of a further posting but that never happened. On Cyril’s death in August 1942 Thomas is noted, in a London Gazette official notice, as being a Company Director of Scotstoun Shipbuilding Yard, Glasgow (then building destroyers for the Royal Navy, owned by Yarrow and Company and, after nationalisation and privatisation, one of the very few ship-builders still working in the UK in 2007 as part of BAe). Meantime his brother, Donald, was noted as an RN Commander of Blackhill House, Balerno, Midlothian. Donald was Mentioned in Despatches on 23 October 1945 whilst based at Abernethy. Perthshire (10). By 2 September 1949 he had been promoted to Captain and was living at Hawkley Place, Hawkley near Petersfield, Hampshire and had placed an announcement in the London Gazette, taking his mother’s maiden name, and changing his name to Connell-Fuller.
Elizabeth Mary had married Geoffrey Reginald Devereux Shaw (the son of Edward Shaw of Welburn Manor, Kirby Moorside - close to Douthwaite Dale in North Yorkshire) in 1924. After service in the Great War with The Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry and the East Riding Yeomanry he studied law and joined the North-Eastern Circuit. A former MP for Sowerby, West Yorkshire and high sheriff of Northamptonshire he retired to Norwich. They had two sons and three daughters. Geoffrey died on 8 September 1960. (11)
Thomas and Molly had three children. In 1951, at the marriage of the eldest, Captain and Mrs Thomas Fuller had Douthwaite Dale as their home but by 1956 they had divorced and Molly had moved to Fayebank, Ampleforth, York. She died at Fayebank, on 28 April 1961 according a public notice in the London Gazette on 5 May 1961.
Thomas had remarried, moved to Nawton (just west of Kirbymoorside) and died at Prospect House, Harome (a couple of miles south-west of Nawton) on 1 February 1987,
The family comments that at Douthwaite Dale there were large silver dish covers engraved with the Maturin crest of the “horse at full speed”. So huge that they could only be sensibly used for large turkeys the covers were disposed of comparatively recently.
5) Teesside Archives CB Maturin photo album ref U.PEN (3)/28/12 6) The Times 3 February 1942 page 7 Obituary 7) London Gazette 15 June 1928 page 4109 8) Dora Maria Pennyman’s address in the Grant of Probate for William MacC Maturin’s will 30 July 1932 - noted as “widow” 9) By coincidence the “Pepper Miers” address, named after the ancient field names on which the house was built, is now occupied by Peter Storey, the chairman of the Brancepeth Archive and History Group, (peppermires@btinternet.com) who has kindly given the above information and welcomes interest in the village; all estate records from 1919 to 1948 were piled in to a bonfire when the Estate was sold to the Duke of Westminster so that verification of Thomas’s status becomes difficult. 10) London Gazette 23 October 1945 page 5179 11) The Times 9 September 1960 page 15 Obituary
1113244) Sophia Charlotte Maturin 1881 Census notes age 30 born in Australia but Biographical Index of South Australia 1836-1885 states that she was born in 1849. Marriage noted in the last quarter of 1885 at Kensington, London to Alfred Davenport. Had family:
Frank Maturin Davenport. Schooled at Rugby. Died in First World War .
1113245) Charles Edward Maturin, born Feb 8, 1855 (1881 census - Lieutenant in the Royal Artillery, North Camp, Farnborough, Hants, aged 26, born in Adelaide, Australia). Married in Kensington in the December quarter of 1892 but died aged 39, again in Kensington, in the last quarter of 1894.
1113246) Desmond Clibborn Maturin, born July 15, 1858 (1881 Census - born in Australia, occupation “Clerk Fire Insurance”).
John Ballachey notes that Desmond won a boxing trophy in Ireland in 1887 and shortly after took the post as Secretary of the Ferriera Gold Mine, South Africa. He was there for nine or ten years during the enormous expansion which lead to the establishment of the gold fields, Johannesburg and Pretoria. See www.joburg.org.za/facts/water.stm.
On Desmond's leaving South Africa in 1906 the Johannesburg Star reported:
"Very general regret will be expressed by the votaries of all branches of sport at the news that it is not the intention of Mr. D.C.Maturin to return to South Africa. Mr. Maturin, who has been secretary of the Ferreira Gold Mining Company of the past nine or ten years, went to Europe some months back on leave of absence. Recently he has resigned his position at the Ferreira GMC and it is understood that he contemplates going to Russia where he has acquired extensive interest on behalf of a syndicate. As an all-round sportsman, Me. Maturin was on of the foremost on the Rand. He was very popular with all classes, and his dictum on matters pertaining to sport was always accepted as law. In fact it is no exaggeration to say that there was scarcely a man in Johannesburg in whom the sporting public had more confidence. He was one of the best amateur heavy weight boxers that ever set foot in South Africa, and could have held his own with a good many professionals. Mr. Maturin officiated as referee in most of the big boxing contests held here a few years back, and always gave satisfaction. Prior to coming to coming to South Africa he gained the heavy weight championship of Dublin, which virtually carried with it the championship of Ireland, [ I have the trophy, enscripted ' Sport Boxing tournament to decide Irish Amateur championships for 1887/Heavy Weight Class won by D.C.Maturin'] no mean title, considering the number of first-class boxers that had sprung from the Emerald Isle. He gained high distinction at Home in Rugby football, and used to say that he had pretty well broken every bone in his body at the game. So far as we know, he did not play in this country. Though not in the first flight of cricketers here, he was an enthusiastic follower of the summer game and has made many a useful score in second class matches, while he could also "bowl a bit". Under his Captaincy, the Ferreira Cricket Club some years was was about the strongest of all the mine teams around. Latterly Mr. Maturin had identified himself more closely with the turf. A few years back he owned some pretty good ponies, amongst which remember, "Escape", a mare, who, when at her best was as good as anything running here then. Up to the time he went away, it was generally understood that he had an interest in a stable which had several good wins. Mr. Maturin was a steward of the Pony and Galloway club, served on the Committee of Tattersall's. and for a time was one of the representatives of the Jockey Club of South Africa. The Ferreira, few years back, was a rare sporting mine, what with Mr. Maturin, poor old Bob Cunningham, and Tom Heriot. The last two have joined the great majority, and the first named has left us.. There cannot be the slightest doubt but that Mr. Maturin's straightforward influence has made itself largely felt in sporting circles and we can ill afford to lose such men."
Noted on Ellis Island lists as arriving in New York:
Aug 11 1906 on the St Paul from Southampton Aug 1 1909 on the Cedric from Liverpool; aged 53, accountant, nationality English, “non migrant alien”, wife at 127 (or 137) Kenilworth Court (?) Putney, London, in various parts of USA from 1906-1909, destination “home” at 79 Wall Street, NY, good health, height 5’11”, fair complexion, grey hair, grey eyes, born Adelaide Australia.
1910 census in New York city. Married Inez Jones who was noted as aged 30 (in fact born 22 Oct 1873) when she and "Marie N aged 2" landed at Ellis Island on the Cedric from Liverpool on 23 Nov 1906. On 15 Dec 1909 she, Derrick - sic. “Mayot” but more likely Bagot - (aged 8) and William Henry (aged 15 and 6 months) arrived, again at Ellis Island, on the Oceanic from Southampton. Desmond and Inez living at 19, Eagle Gate Apartments, Salt Lake City, Utah in 1919. Inez died in Oct 1969 in San Rafael, Marin, California.
11132461) William Henry Maturin, born 10 April 1894. Click here to see the sub-page Willie Henry
11132462)Kathleen Charlotte Maturin, born 1896. Married first Thomas Harrison. Married second Stanley Bush.
11132463) Derrick Bagot Maturin, born in Capetown 1901. Landed at San Francisco on the SS President Jackson from Honolulu in September 1928. In May 1929 he was joined by Mary Linkins who was described as English, born in Johannesburg in about 1904, once again on the President Jackson from Honolulu, with the destination of San Francisco. Married Kathryn Powers and has living family. He died in 1976.
11132464) Marie Noreen Maturin, born 1903. Married Frank Anderson. She died in 1946.
11132465) Dorothea Inez Maturin, born 1912. Married first Lawrence Eldridge Lake; divorced 1936; has living family. Married second Robert Galbraith Ballachey in 1944; has living family. She died 1998
1113247) Norman Hugh Dutton Maturin, born Dec 1, 1862 (1881 Census - born in London (Alum. Cantab. - in Paddington 1 Dec 1861, baptised 10 Jan 1862)). Schooled at Kensington by Mr Ackland; admitted to St John’s, Cambridge 20 June 1881; matriculated Michaelmas 1881. Married in Kensington last quarter of 1896.
1111325) Olivia Maturin, born 1821, married to Charles Jephson William Kensington, Esq. (1815-1877). She resides in New Zealand where she has a large family. She died 29 Sep 1897. Their family was:
William Charles Kensington (1845 -1922) Cecil Thomas Kensington (1846 - 1929) Charles Spearing Kensington (1847 - 1930) Marion Kensington (1849 - 1915) Edith Charlotte Kensington (1850 - 1879) Frederick Bridges Kensington (1852 - 1932) married Elinor Elizabeth Lawlor 1878. Had family: Caroline Olivia Kensington (1879 - 1979) married Walter Herbert Dunnage 1902. Had family:
Eleanor Louisa Dunnage (1903 - 1990) married Selwyn Joseph Adams George Herbert Dunnage (1904 - 1924) Walter Kenneth Dunnage (1907 - 2005) Reginald Kensington Dunnage (1909 - 1934) Sybil Eileen Dunnage (1910 - 1938) Alan Charles Dunnage (1916 - 1987) Althea Dorothy Dunnage (1919)
Sarah Catherine Kensington (1853 - 1927) Norreys Jephson Kensington (1855 - 1913) Renira Eleanor Kensington (1856 - 1927) Henry de la Porte Kensington (1861 - 1914)
111326) Frederick Charles Maturin, was in China and other foreign countries but still living (1880). A strong assumption is that this is son born in about 1822 at Bantry, Ireland. On 25 Feb 1843 he married Mary Anne Swain (daughter of Charles and Margaret Anne Swain, born 15 Jun 1824 at St Michael) at St Michael, Barbados and had family:
1113261) Vicurza Willesley Maturin, chr 15 Jul 1846 at St Michael, Barbados. Married John Oadcott Spriggs on 26 March 1870 at St Michael (IGI).
1113262) William Frederick Paget Maturin born about 1847 in Barbados according to 1871 and 1881 English census returns. He appears to be the only one of the first family to follow their father back to England. In 1871 he was recorded at 118 Great Titchfield Street, Marylebone, London as a 24 year-old unemployed clerk with his wife "Marianne" aged 24, a waistcoat-maker born in Newcastle, Staffordshire. They shared accommodation with Carlotta Maddock, described as William's sister-in-law, aged 17 also a waistcoat-maker who had been born in Leek, Staffs. So far no marriage or birth records can be traced for any of these events. Their first child, Lionel, is recorded as being born in 1871 and Ernest Oscar was registered in 1873.
On 10 June 1875 The Times reported that William had appeared at The Old Bailey as a bank clerk at the Covent Garden branch of the London & County Bank accused of "an ingenious manipulation" to transfer £44 16s to the account of Ambrose Brown, a tailor in The Strand, and share the proceeds. They were found guilty and William was sentenced to 5 years penal servitude. Marianne (or Marion or Mary Ann as she is variously noted) must have moved to Leicester during William's imprisonment as the birth of Reginald Paget M Maturin was registered there in the last quarter of that year. The death of an unnamed Maturin boy, noted in Leicester in the third quarter of 1875, is something of a puzzle as there appear to be no other Maturin mothers in that area at that time; one possibility is the premature birth of a stillborn twin to Reginald. In the light of many errors and variations of ages and names registered by this family a stray record of a William Maturin, aged 3, dying in West Ham in 1878 may explain why there is no further mention of Reginald.
The 1881 census shows that William had rejoined his family and was a tobacconist at 18a Market Street, Leicester, Marion's age had dropped by two years and that the two boys were at school. Hilda Marian was born in 1883 but died 10 weeks later..
William died in the Wortley registration district between Leeds and Bradford in the first quarter of 1897, recorded as aged 49. Mary Ann Maturin moved back to London and in 1901 is back at 99 Praed Street, Paddington as a 55 year-old widow, "May", with her son, Desmond. She died in Marylebone in the third quarter of 1904 aged 59. Their family was:
11132621) Lionel Ernest Paget R Maturin born 3rd qrtr 1871 at Marylebone, London. Noted on the 1881 census as a scholar living at home. The only other detail is that he died in late May 1896 and was buried at St Peter & St Paul's, Felixstowe on the 3 June. His tombstone gives his age as 24 but the registrar notes it as 21.
11132622) Ernest Oscar Desmond Paget Maturin born 4th qrtr 1873. Noted as Oscar Ernest on the 1881 census but he may have been known as Desmond. The 1901 census records him at Praed Street with his mother, employed as a barman. There is no trace of him in 1911 but another stray registration quotes that a Desmond Maturin aged 42 died in Paddington in the second quarter of 1909. Only the certificate will reveal if this was Ernest Oscar Desmond. 11132623) Unnamed Maturin boy died 3rd qrtr 1875 in Leicester. 11132624) Reginald Paget M Maturin born 4th qrtr 1875 in Leicester. As above - it may be that it was Reginald who died in West Ham in the 3rd qrtr 1878 and was registered as 3 year-old William. 11132625) Hilda Marian Burnaby Maturin born 4th qrtr 1883 in the Blaby district of Leics but died 1o weeks laterand was buried at the Welford Road, cemetery in Leicester in January 1884.
1113263) Florence Trowbridge Maturin chr 27 Sep 1848 at St Michael 1113264) Annie Louisa Maturin, chr 15 May 1850 at St Michael 1113265) Augusta Stanhope Maturin (chr 14 Jan 1852) who married Joseph Collymore at St George, Barbados on 19 Jul 1873.
He was employed as a Surveyor's Clerk by the Royal Mail but was dismissed for "misappropiation of official cash" and returned to the UK, apparently without his Barbados family. In December 1854 he was arrested in London for defrauding would-be emigrants to Australia. At his trial in London on 2 Feb 1855 he was found guilty of using his brother, William Henry's, name, position as Commissary General and reputation to recruit, and illegally take money from, ineligible workers in London, when his remit as commission agent for the Commissioners for the Promotion of Emigration was strictly limited to specific skills, age and family groups in Caernarvon and Merionith. He was then living at King Street Woolwich.
No marriage has so far been traced to Caroline Collinson but their family was:
1113265) Arthur Frederick (Frederick) Maturin, chr 26 Jul 1857 at St. Mary le Strand, Westminster, London
1113266) Emily Maturin born about 1866
1113267) Caroline Mary Maturin, chr 14 Aug 1866 at St. Clement Danes, Westminster, London.
In 1871 the family lived at 30 Bouverie Street, London (south of Fleet Street, near Whitefriars). Frederick was still described as "Late Inspector Post Office Packet Service, West Indies" born in Bantry, Ireland. No trace of the family can be found in the 1881 UK census.
111327) Charles Maturin, no information.
111328) Augustus Maturin. Died in Australia about 1858. Was travelling up country at the time of the gold discoveries when he suddenly disappeared, but no record exists of his fate. Biographical Index of South Australia 1836-1885, states that A.M. arrived in Australia in 1843 on the “Elizabeth Buckham”; occupation: Policeman; married 1852 Harriet Louisa Evans, in South Australia. On the same voyage was his elder brother William Henry.
11133) Henrietta Maturin, Baptised at St. Peter’s, Dublin, Aug 17, 1786. Said to have emigrated early in life. Subsequent history unknown.
11134) Fidelia Maturin, married to William Eveleigh Esq. M.L. dated Oct 31, 1790, marriedat St Peter's on 1 Jan 1791
11135) Emma Maturin, married to Robert Lea Esq. and had issue. M.L. dated Feb 26, 1796. Fidelia Emma Lea married John Burke of Tintrim House, Loughrea on 2 Oct 1817 at Taney Church, Dundrum, Dublin.
11136) Alicia Maturin, married to the Rev: Charles Graydon Osborne, and had issue. CGO was admitted to TCD on 2 June 1788 aged 17 as a pensioner, schooled by Mr Rudd; son of Charles, “musicus”; born Co. Limerick; BA Vern 1795, MA Vern 1808. A Charles G Osborne is noted in Wilsons Directory 1812 as the Dean’s Vicar, among the Vicars Choral at Christchurch, Dublin, living at 5 Granby Row, Dublin. One of their daughters, Anna Maria, was married, April 24, 1844, to the Rev: Francis Dobbs, late Rector of Ballintoy, Co. Antrim.
Entered Trin: Coll: Dub: Nov 2, 1795. Scholar T.C.D. 1798. B.A. Vern. 1800. Curate of St. Peter’s, Dublin. Married in 1803, Harriet, (sic but mistaken - should be Henrietta) (daughter of the Rev: Thomas Kingsbury. Her sister was wife of Sir Charles Ormesby, Bart. and their two sons became baronets in succession. 
111311) Rev: William Basil Kingsbury Maturin
1113113) William Basil Maturin
Married Oct 2, 1845, 
, an insurance office clerk. Recorded on the Ellis Island lists arriving in New York:
nominated to naval cadetship and on the following 8 Jun he is listed in the first-class cadets passing out from Eastmaur Naval Acadamy, Southsea. 1871 census - noted as an acting sub-lieutenant on HMS Excellent in Portsmouth. A Times report in Feb 1882 refers to derring-do in the South Seas by Commander Maturin of HMS Beagle. In 1885 he was praised for his contribution to the efficiency of the naval transports up to attack on Suakin, Sudan. In 1891 he was Commander on HMS Ajax and a note on Royal Navy ships in service 1894 he was Commander of HMS Penelope.) 1901 census (at what appears to be a small school with 6 boarders, two teachers and the principal M A Gribble) at 33 Plymouth Road, Penarth, Glamorgan (“aged 49” with Mary aged 37). By May 1904 he had been appointed Assistant Director of Transports . 
1111325) Olivia Maturin