Nat Gould

Matthew Henry Frost Cantrell 1830-1915

Matthew Henry Frost Cantrell was born in 1830 at Calver in Derbyshire, the son of William Cantrell 1800-1876 and his wife nee Elizabeth Frost 1803-1863.

His mother Elizabeth nee Frost is said to have lived up to her surname and was always cold towards Matthew, her only child. "At the age of eight young Matthew was sent to a seminary in Belgium, for his mother desired him to be a Catholic priest. But he soon realised that he could not lead a celibate life. He trained as a mining engineer, for the family owned lead mines in Derbyshire, but those mines became flooded. He went to London and fell in love with the writer Eliza Lynn, but she would not marry a Catholic. Instead she married a woodcarver called Linton, who lived at Brantwood on Lake Coniston. (The house was later sold to John Ruskin, the critic, and is now open to the public.) Eliza’s elder stepson became mentally ill while studying at Oxford, and Matthew went to Brantwood to look after him. He then decided that he would follow his father into medicine, and so went to study in London.

The Old House, Winster

Besides studying medicine he was very interested in literature and mixed with the literary set. In particular he was friendly with William Makepeace Thackeray and Charles Dickens ... he was also friendly with the poet Longfellow.

In London Matthew Cantrell met Jane Miles, the daughter of an agricultural labourer from Kingsdon in Somerset, and married her. Their first two daughters, Amelia and Ellen, were born in London in 1863 and 1864, while he was still a student. His third daughter, Hope Elizabeth, was born in Cromford in 1866. The family then moved to Winster, where Matthew set up in practice on Main Street, in what is now called The Old House.

He had built up such debts while a student that he never managed to get free of them. It is said that he drove his wife to distraction. For instance, when he met a poor man without a coat he gave him his own, even though he had not yet paid his tailor for it. And he was often paid in kind with eggs, a chicken or corn." (1)

Matthew and Jane Cantrell had the following children:

Amelia Cantrell. She was born in 1863 in London, and was known in the family as Milly. When the 1891 Census was taken she was unmarried and a lodging house keeper living at 4 Hardwick Mount in Buxton, Derbyshire. She married John Tutin Rhodes in 1897 and emigrated to Canada. She died in Ontario, Canada in 1913 aged 50 years.

Ellen Cantrell. She was born in 1864 in London, and was known as Nelly. In 1891 she was described as being a "Lady help" living with her cousin Sarah T. Whittaker, a lodging house keeper, at Hardwick Villa, Hardwick Mount in Buxton. By 1901 she was manager of the Leewood Hotel in that town. She was unmarried and died at Buxton in 1944 aged 78 years.

Hope Elizabeth Cantrell. She was born in 1866 at Cromford in Derbyshire, and baptised at Matlock in 1867. In 1891 she was employed as a lady's companion, and visiting Mr. Eaton hall and his family of The Oaklands, Oakfield Terrace, Childer Thornton in Cheshire. In 1895 she was married at St James's church in Buxton to William Norman Toft, a colliery agent born in 1860 at Youlgreave in Derbyshire. They lived in Derby and later at Duffield in Derbyshire, and had four children: Norman Miles Toft (born 1897), Norah Elizabeth Toft (born 1901), Hope Alice Toft (born 1903) and Roland William Toft (born 1905). She died in Buxton in 1944. Her husband had predeceased her at Duffield in 1923.

William Cantrell. He was born in 1869 at Winster. He and his brother Henry Hall Cantrell moved to Buxton when his father remarried, and became apprentices at Milligans, the prestigious drapers in the town.

Paul Frost Cantrell. He was born in 1871 at Winster and died in 1881.

Henry Hall Cantrell. He was born in 1875 at Winster. He went to Buxton with his brother William when his father remarried, and became an apprentice at Milligans. Later he had his own shop H. Hall Cantrell in Spring Gardens in the the town centre.

Rose Cantrell. She was born in 1876 at Winster and died in 1877.

Jane Cantrell nee Miles died in May 1876 shortly after giving birth to her seventh child Rose Cantrell 1876-1877 (4). When the Census had been taken in 1881, Matthew Cantrell (by then a widower) was still in practice at Winster. However he had been made bankrupt in January 1882 (2), and a court case followed to decide the regularity of the seizure of his goods which had taken place during the previous December (3).

Hassop RC Church

In 1884 Matthew Cantrell married Sarah Costello (5) at Hassop Roman Catholic Church. She was born in Ireland in 1860.

They had the following children:

George Cantrell. He was born in 1887.

May Cantrell. She was born in 1888.

Mary Cantrell. She was born in 1894. When the Census was taken in 1911 she was living aged seventeen with her married sister Hope Elizabeth Toft in Derby.

East Bank in Winster

In 1891 Matthew Cantrell was still in practice as a physician and surgeon, but the family were then living at East Bank in Winster.

He became ill and sold his practice to Dr Fletcher. He went with his wife and children to live with his son William Cantrell in Liverpool, but when his health improved he bought a practice in Longnor in Staffordshire. "His marriage broke up and Sarah went to Canada to start a new life, but the three younger children stayed with him" (6).

When the 1911 Census was taken he was still described as married but his wife was not with him. He was living in the household of William Marshall in Main Street at Winster. His landlord was a Winster man employed in the gritstone quarries, and his wife was described as being a lodging house keeper, so presumably he had rented or bought the house from Matthew Cantrell.

Matthew Henry Frost Cantrell died in 1915 and was buried at Winster (7).

(1) Winster Local History Group Newsletter 33 (February 2006): information of Mrs Cynthia Carmichael of Liverpool, great-great-granddaughter of William Cantrell 1800-1876. www.winster.org/History/Newsletters/Newsletter33.pdf

(2) Sheffield Independent 4 January 1882; Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald 11 February 1882; York Herald 28 January 1882.

(3) Derby Daily Telegraph 14 August 1882; Derby Mercury 16 August 1882.

(4) "In May 1876 Jane, now 41, had her seventh child, Rose. As was the custom, she kept to her bed for a month. My grandfather, now seven, went into her room to ask where his clean shirt was. Jane pointed to the chest of drawers, said that it was in the top drawer, and fell back dead. Such was her popularity with the villagers, they went to the Via Gellia and picked violets to line her grave.
After Jane’s death the Frost relations moved in and had all the children re-baptised as Catholics. Baby Rose died a year later. Nelly (Ellen), who was about twelve when her mother died, said that bringing up the baby was left mainly to her and to Milly (Amelia), and they did not know how to do it." Winster Local History Group Newsletter 33 (February 2006): information of Mrs Cynthia Carmichael. www.winster.org/History/Newsletters/Newsletter33.pdf

(5) "Matthew was not a man to live a celibate life, and after Jane’s death he is reputed to have fathered twins. Then in about 1887 he got the sixteen-year-old maid, Sarah Costello, into trouble. He was now 57. The priest tried to persuade him not to marry, but he did. George was born in 1887, followed by May and then Mary in 1894, by which time both Hope and William had children. The children of the first marriage had been kind to Sarah as a servant, but having a stepmother several years younger than themselves did not meet with their approval, so they moved to Buxton." Winster Local History Group Newsletter 33 (February 2006) www.winster.org/History/Newsletters/Newsletter33.pdf

(6) Winster Local History Group Newsletter 33 (February 2006) www.winster.org/History/Newsletters/Newsletter33.pdf

(7) He was buried with his first wife Jane and children Rose Cantrell and Paul Cantrell in a plot near the gate to Dr Fletcher’s house, Bank House on West Bank. Winster Local History Group Newsletter 33 (February 2006) www.winster.org/History/Newsletters/Newsletter33.pdf