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Oliver Mathews

January 28, 2023

Oliver Mathews (or Matthews; c. 1520–c. 1618) was a Welsh apothecary and chronicler.[1] He wrote the first history of Shrewsbury, the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, although as Hugh Owen and John Brickdale Blakeway point out, it contains "strange and unauthorised assertions", and is not considered reliable.[2]

Mathews' arms: ermine, a cross gules[1]

Life

According to his own writings, Mathews seems to have been born around 1520.[note 1] His father was Richard Mathews, a yeoman of Kinton near Chirbury,[3] said by Richard Williams Morgan to have been from an "old and respectable family".[4] Antiquary Richard Williams writes that they had "settled for many generations" near Caersws at Park farm, where he says Oliver Mathews appears to have been born.[5] However, Edward Hamer, another antiquary, notes that if so they "appear to have occupied a subordinate position", because a branch of the Pryce family occupied the Park around that time.[4] Enoch Salisbury instead asserts that Mathews was "neither a Salopian nor a Welshman as some have thought, but a native of Monmouthshire, and born, it is believed, not far from Pontypool".[6] From his letters, Mathews seems to have considered himself Welsh, and of Celtic descent, referring to himself as a "Brittaine".[2]

He moved to Shrewsbury, and on 19 April 1560 was admitted as a half-brother to the Mercers Company,[3] which included an Apothecaries guild,[1] to trade in "Poticarye and Grocerye". The amount he paid to join (thirty-six shillings and eight pence) indicates that his father was not a freeman of the company, and he had not served a seven-year apprenticeship to a freeman.[3] On 30 September of the same year, he was admitted as a Burgess of Shrewsbury.[1] He became a prosperous businessman,[5] and in 1570/1571 is recorded as having owned land worth twenty shillings in the Welsh Ward of Shrewsbury.[3] In 1571, Queen Elizabeth I gave the Manor of Arwystli to Robert Dudley, causing Mathews to complain of the "given awaie of the parkes of Caersouse from the burgesses to keep the King's breeding Mares."[7] Mathews frequently served as company warden until 6 August 1572, when he paid to become a full brother and freeman, which was the last time he appears in their records.[3] He seems to have continued to live, and trade as an apothecary, in Shrewsbury until at least 1576,[8] before retiring to Bishop's Castle.[5]

On 7 January 1577, he married Jane Broughton, daughter of Edward Broughton of the Broughton family, at Bishop's Castle. He obtained a lease from the Crown from 22 June 1580 for six acres of land and all tithes of grain from the town and fields of Cleobury Mortimer for twenty-one years;[3] these had been possessions of the dissolved Wigmore Priory, employed for the maintenance of a sexton for the parish church.[8] Mathews is recorded as living at Bishop's Castle from at least 1599 to 1611,[3] including in the later heraldic visitation of Shropshire,[9][8] though his letter from 1615 indicates that he lived at the nearby village of Snead. He and his wife had a daughter, Jane, and two sons, Thomas,[3] and Edward.[8] His daughter Jane married Shrewsbury goldsmith Thomas Gittins on 11 December 1599,[3] and had at least three children by 1615: Thomas, Symon, and Elizabeth.[8] Mathews' son Thomas, a mercer, was admitted to the Mercers Company on 4 October 1608,[1] and had three sons: Thomas (bapt. 1616), Oliver (bapt. 1617), and Edward (bapt. 1618), all christened at St Chad's Church, Shrewsbury.[10][note 2] One source, William Allport Leighton, reports that Mathews married again on 30 November 1602 at Church Stoke, but the name of this second wife is not legible in the parish records.[3] In any case, "Jane, wife of Oliver Mathews, gent" was buried on 9 January 1611 at Bishop's Castle, with most sources assuming this to be his first wife, Jane née Broughton.[2][5][11]

Although his date of death is not known, Mathews had died by 2 April 1618, when his will (which had been made on 20 June 1615) was proved.[8] Morgan states that Mathews' family held Park farm near Caersws for many generations, until the early nineteenth century, and Hamer reported in 1869 that "several living persons remember the Matthews family residing at the Park", with one old man of that name still living in the area who claimed to be a descendant of Oliver Mathews.[4] Salisbury reported that some of Mathews' descendants lived in Herefordshire as well as Shropshire, though none in Monmouthshire.[6] His family's connection to Cleobury Mortimer may also have persisted, with the names Matthews and Oliver continuing there for several generations.[11]

Works

 
Mathews' signature (1616)

Four works by Mathews are known, consisting of one letter with historical notes, two blackletter chronicles,[4][7] and a final piece appended to the first chronicle:

  • "A Coppie of Oliver Mathewes Letter, sent to his 2 lovinge frends of the Cittie of Bristowe" (18 March 1615)
  • "An Abreviation of divers most true and auncient Brutaine Cronicles, briefelie expressing the foundation of the most famous derayed Cittie Caer Souse or Dinas Southwen, most auncient in Brutaine, (Troy Newyth onlie excepted) and of some other famous Citties in Greate Brutaine" (May 1616)
  • "The Cause of the Brittaines Captivitie" (appended to "An Abreviation...")
  • "The Scituacion, Foundation, and auncient Names of the famous Towne of Sallop, not inferiour to manie Citties in this Realme, for Antiquitie, godlie Goverment, good Orders and Wealth" (July 1616)

These manuscripts have been published a number of times. A 1693 letter from David Evans of the Ashmolean Museum to Humphrey Foulkes summarises Mathews' history of Caersws, and mentions his histories of Shrewsbury and Bristol. Evans had direct access to Mathews' manuscripts, and the spellings of names that he gives differ from Hearne's later transcription. This letter was collected with the correspondence of Edward Lhuyd, and published by Rupert Morris in 1911.[12] Shrewsbury publisher Stafford Price sent the manuscripts to John Thorpe, who communicated them to Thomas Hearne; Hearne transcribed them as an appendix to his History and Antiquities of Glastonbury (1722).[13] In 1877, Shrewsbury publisher T. W. Bickley reprinted Hearne's 1722 transcription of all these manuscripts under the title The Scituation, Foundation, and Auncient Names of the Famous Towne of Sallop (the title of the most notable manuscript).[14]

Assessing his work in their History of Shrewsbury (1825), topographers Hugh Owen and John Brickdale Blakeway described it as containing "strange and unauthorised assertions", but noted that Mathews' statement that he was ninety-five years old when writing it "disarms all criticism", and ultimately write that he "amused his age" by penning it.[2] Williams called his works "quaint and curious compositions",[5] while editor William Valentine Lloyd described him as a "quaint chronicler",[15] saying that his age "is in some measure an excuse for the fanciful exposition of early British history" that he wrote.[8]

By 1867, the location of the manuscripts was no longer known.[16]

Notes

  1. ^ Mathews wrote on 18 March 1615 that he was "aged 95 yeres".[2] The parish registers of Chirbury do not extend far enough back to record if he was baptised there, and no records relating to him or his family were found in the registers of Chirbury, Bishop's Castle, Snead, Hyssington, or Cleobury Mortimer.[3]
  2. ^ Thomas' sons Edward and Thomas were both drapers in Shrewsbury, as was the younger Thomas' son, who was also called Thomas.[1] The elder Thomas' son Oliver was buried on 10 June 1658 at St Chad's Church.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Morris, Joseph (1906). "The Provosts and Bailiffs of Shrewsbury". Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Natural History Society. 3. 6: 186.
  2. ^ a b c d e Owen, H.; Blakeway, J. B. (1825). A History of Shrewsbury. Vol. 1. London: Harding, Lepard, and Co. p. 2.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Leighton, W. A. (1885). "The Guilds of Shrewsbury". Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Natural History Society. Shrewsbury: Adnitt and Naunton. 8: 314–316.
  4. ^ a b c d Hamer, Edward (1869). "Ancient Arwystli, Part II". Collections Historical & Archæological Relating to Montgomeryshire. London: J. Russell Smith. 2: 66–70.
  5. ^ a b c d e Williams, Richard (1894). Montgomeryshire Worthies (2 ed.). Newtown: Phillips & Son. p. 191.
  6. ^ a b Salisbury, E. R. G. (1880). Border Counties' Worthies. Hodder and Stoughton. p. 155.
  7. ^ a b "Montgomeryshire Famed Breed of Horses". Collections Historical & Archæological Relating to Montgomeryshire and Its Borders. London: Powys-land Club. 16: 163. 1883.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Lloyd, William Valentine (1892). "Early Montgomeryshire Wills at Somerset House". Collections Historical & Archæological Relating to Montgomeryshire and Its Borders. London: Powys-land Club. 26: 44–47.
  9. ^ Rhydderch, John (1846). "Pedigrees of Montgomeryshire Families". In Dwnn, Lewys; Meyrick, Samuel Rush (eds.). Heraldic Visitations of Wales and Part of the Marches. Vol. 1. Llandovery: William Rees. p. 329.
  10. ^ Boilieu; C. (1886). "491 & 497: Oliver Matthews, the Historian". Shropshire Notes and Queries. Shrewsbury: Shrewsbury Chronicle. 1–2: 164–166.
  11. ^ a b Childe, Mrs Edward (1879). "Cleobury Mortimer". Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Natural History Society. 1. Shrewsbury: Adnitt and Naunton. 2: 63.
  12. ^ Morris, Rupert, ed. (1911). Parochialia. Archaeologia Cambrensis. Vol. 3. London: Cambrian Archaeological Association. pp. 98–100.
  13. ^ Hearne, Thomas, ed. (1722). The History and Antiquities of Glastonbury. Oxford. pp. 237–271.
  14. ^ Mathews, Oliver (1877) [1616]. The Scituation, Foundation, and Auncient Names of the Famous Towne of Sallop. Shrewsbury: T. W. Bickley & Son.
  15. ^ Lloyd, William Valentine (1888). "Chirbury and Wolstanmynd". Collections Historical & Archæological Relating to Montgomeryshire and Its Borders. London: Powys-land Club. 22: 176.
  16. ^ H., E. (26 October 1867). "Oliver Matthews". Notes and Queries. 3. London. 12 (304): 329.

January 28, 2023
oliver, mathews, matthews, 1520, 1618, welsh, apothecary, chronicler, wrote, first, history, shrewsbury, county, town, shropshire, england, river, severn, although, hugh, owen, john, brickdale, blakeway, point, contains, strange, unauthorised, assertions, cons. Oliver Mathews or Matthews c 1520 c 1618 was a Welsh apothecary and chronicler 1 He wrote the first history of Shrewsbury the county town of Shropshire England on the River Severn although as Hugh Owen and John Brickdale Blakeway point out it contains strange and unauthorised assertions and is not considered reliable 2 Mathews arms ermine a cross gules 1 Contents 1 Life 2 Works 3 Notes 4 ReferencesLife EditAccording to his own writings Mathews seems to have been born around 1520 note 1 His father was Richard Mathews a yeoman of Kinton near Chirbury 3 said by Richard Williams Morgan to have been from an old and respectable family 4 Antiquary Richard Williams writes that they had settled for many generations near Caersws at Park farm where he says Oliver Mathews appears to have been born 5 However Edward Hamer another antiquary notes that if so they appear to have occupied a subordinate position because a branch of the Pryce family occupied the Park around that time 4 Enoch Salisbury instead asserts that Mathews was neither a Salopian nor a Welshman as some have thought but a native of Monmouthshire and born it is believed not far from Pontypool 6 From his letters Mathews seems to have considered himself Welsh and of Celtic descent referring to himself as a Brittaine 2 He moved to Shrewsbury and on 19 April 1560 was admitted as a half brother to the Mercers Company 3 which included an Apothecaries guild 1 to trade in Poticarye and Grocerye The amount he paid to join thirty six shillings and eight pence indicates that his father was not a freeman of the company and he had not served a seven year apprenticeship to a freeman 3 On 30 September of the same year he was admitted as a Burgess of Shrewsbury 1 He became a prosperous businessman 5 and in 1570 1571 is recorded as having owned land worth twenty shillings in the Welsh Ward of Shrewsbury 3 In 1571 Queen Elizabeth I gave the Manor of Arwystli to Robert Dudley causing Mathews to complain of the given awaie of the parkes of Caersouse from the burgesses to keep the King s breeding Mares 7 Mathews frequently served as company warden until 6 August 1572 when he paid to become a full brother and freeman which was the last time he appears in their records 3 He seems to have continued to live and trade as an apothecary in Shrewsbury until at least 1576 8 before retiring to Bishop s Castle 5 On 7 January 1577 he married Jane Broughton daughter of Edward Broughton of the Broughton family at Bishop s Castle He obtained a lease from the Crown from 22 June 1580 for six acres of land and all tithes of grain from the town and fields of Cleobury Mortimer for twenty one years 3 these had been possessions of the dissolved Wigmore Priory employed for the maintenance of a sexton for the parish church 8 Mathews is recorded as living at Bishop s Castle from at least 1599 to 1611 3 including in the later heraldic visitation of Shropshire 9 8 though his letter from 1615 indicates that he lived at the nearby village of Snead He and his wife had a daughter Jane and two sons Thomas 3 and Edward 8 His daughter Jane married Shrewsbury goldsmith Thomas Gittins on 11 December 1599 3 and had at least three children by 1615 Thomas Symon and Elizabeth 8 Mathews son Thomas a mercer was admitted to the Mercers Company on 4 October 1608 1 and had three sons Thomas bapt 1616 Oliver bapt 1617 and Edward bapt 1618 all christened at St Chad s Church Shrewsbury 10 note 2 One source William Allport Leighton reports that Mathews married again on 30 November 1602 at Church Stoke but the name of this second wife is not legible in the parish records 3 In any case Jane wife of Oliver Mathews gent was buried on 9 January 1611 at Bishop s Castle with most sources assuming this to be his first wife Jane nee Broughton 2 5 11 Although his date of death is not known Mathews had died by 2 April 1618 when his will which had been made on 20 June 1615 was proved 8 Morgan states that Mathews family held Park farm near Caersws for many generations until the early nineteenth century and Hamer reported in 1869 that several living persons remember the Matthews family residing at the Park with one old man of that name still living in the area who claimed to be a descendant of Oliver Mathews 4 Salisbury reported that some of Mathews descendants lived in Herefordshire as well as Shropshire though none in Monmouthshire 6 His family s connection to Cleobury Mortimer may also have persisted with the names Matthews and Oliver continuing there for several generations 11 Works Edit Mathews signature 1616 Four works by Mathews are known consisting of one letter with historical notes two blackletter chronicles 4 7 and a final piece appended to the first chronicle A Coppie of Oliver Mathewes Letter sent to his 2 lovinge frends of the Cittie of Bristowe 18 March 1615 An Abreviation of divers most true and auncient Brutaine Cronicles briefelie expressing the foundation of the most famous derayed Cittie Caer Souse or Dinas Southwen most auncient in Brutaine Troy Newyth onlie excepted and of some other famous Citties in Greate Brutaine May 1616 The Cause of the Brittaines Captivitie appended to An Abreviation The Scituacion Foundation and auncient Names of the famous Towne of Sallop not inferiour to manie Citties in this Realme for Antiquitie godlie Goverment good Orders and Wealth July 1616 These manuscripts have been published a number of times A 1693 letter from David Evans of the Ashmolean Museum to Humphrey Foulkes summarises Mathews history of Caersws and mentions his histories of Shrewsbury and Bristol Evans had direct access to Mathews manuscripts and the spellings of names that he gives differ from Hearne s later transcription This letter was collected with the correspondence of Edward Lhuyd and published by Rupert Morris in 1911 12 Shrewsbury publisher Stafford Price sent the manuscripts to John Thorpe who communicated them to Thomas Hearne Hearne transcribed them as an appendix to his History and Antiquities of Glastonbury 1722 13 In 1877 Shrewsbury publisher T W Bickley reprinted Hearne s 1722 transcription of all these manuscripts under the title The Scituation Foundation and Auncient Names of the Famous Towne of Sallop the title of the most notable manuscript 14 Assessing his work in their History of Shrewsbury 1825 topographers Hugh Owen and John Brickdale Blakeway described it as containing strange and unauthorised assertions but noted that Mathews statement that he was ninety five years old when writing it disarms all criticism and ultimately write that he amused his age by penning it 2 Williams called his works quaint and curious compositions 5 while editor William Valentine Lloyd described him as a quaint chronicler 15 saying that his age is in some measure an excuse for the fanciful exposition of early British history that he wrote 8 By 1867 the location of the manuscripts was no longer known 16 Notes Edit Mathews wrote on 18 March 1615 that he was aged 95 yeres 2 The parish registers of Chirbury do not extend far enough back to record if he was baptised there and no records relating to him or his family were found in the registers of Chirbury Bishop s Castle Snead Hyssington or Cleobury Mortimer 3 Thomas sons Edward and Thomas were both drapers in Shrewsbury as was the younger Thomas son who was also called Thomas 1 The elder Thomas son Oliver was buried on 10 June 1658 at St Chad s Church 8 References Edit a b c d e f Morris Joseph 1906 The Provosts and Bailiffs of Shrewsbury Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Natural History Society 3 6 186 a b c d e Owen H Blakeway J B 1825 A History of Shrewsbury Vol 1 London Harding Lepard and Co p 2 a b c d e f g h i j k Leighton W A 1885 The Guilds of Shrewsbury Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Natural History Society Shrewsbury Adnitt and Naunton 8 314 316 a b c d Hamer Edward 1869 Ancient Arwystli Part II Collections Historical amp Archaeological Relating to Montgomeryshire London J Russell Smith 2 66 70 a b c d e Williams Richard 1894 Montgomeryshire Worthies 2 ed Newtown Phillips amp Son p 191 a b Salisbury E R G 1880 Border Counties Worthies Hodder and Stoughton p 155 a b Montgomeryshire Famed Breed of Horses Collections Historical amp Archaeological Relating to Montgomeryshire and Its Borders London Powys land Club 16 163 1883 a b c d e f g h Lloyd William Valentine 1892 Early Montgomeryshire Wills at Somerset House Collections Historical amp Archaeological Relating to Montgomeryshire and Its Borders London Powys land Club 26 44 47 Rhydderch John 1846 Pedigrees of Montgomeryshire Families In Dwnn Lewys Meyrick Samuel Rush eds Heraldic Visitations of Wales and Part of the Marches Vol 1 Llandovery William Rees p 329 Boilieu C 1886 491 amp 497 Oliver Matthews the Historian Shropshire Notes and Queries Shrewsbury Shrewsbury Chronicle 1 2 164 166 a b Childe Mrs Edward 1879 Cleobury Mortimer Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Natural History Society 1 Shrewsbury Adnitt and Naunton 2 63 Morris Rupert ed 1911 Parochialia Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol 3 London Cambrian Archaeological Association pp 98 100 Hearne Thomas ed 1722 The History and Antiquities of Glastonbury Oxford pp 237 271 Mathews Oliver 1877 1616 The Scituation Foundation and Auncient Names of the Famous Towne of Sallop Shrewsbury T W Bickley amp Son Lloyd William Valentine 1888 Chirbury and Wolstanmynd Collections Historical amp Archaeological Relating to Montgomeryshire and Its Borders London Powys land Club 22 176 H E 26 October 1867 Oliver Matthews Notes and Queries 3 London 12 304 329 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Oliver Mathews amp oldid 1135758517, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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