Author: Weavers, Matthew
Biography:
WEAVERS, Matthew (1801-c.1830: findmypast.com)
Matthew Weavers was born on 3 Oct. 1801 and baptised on 7 Oct. at St. Mary at Coslany, Norwich, Norfolk, the son of Margaret (Peables) and William Weavers. His parents may have married in Ireland—no record has been found of the marriage—since they had at least two other sons, William born in Dublin in 1795 and Robert born in Norfolk in 1799. William, who edited the posthumous volume of poems by Matthew, had a quite distinguished career in the Royal Navy: he joined in Sept. 1805 and was midshipman on the Agamemnon at the Battle of Trafalgar a month later; saw action in the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, and South America; and was promoted to Lieutenant in 1815. He went on half-pay in 1826 and retired in 1861 with the rank of Commander. On 30 May 1830, the year of publication of Agrippa Posthumus . . . and Other Poems, he married his first wife, Priscilla Minchin or Munchin, at St. Dunstan, Stepney, London. Census records show that he continued to live in London, but he died at Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, where he had probably gone for his health, on 14 May 1864, leaving personal effects valued at just under £2000. No record of burial has been found for Matthew Weavers but he was resident in Finchley, London, at the time of his death. The memoir included with his poems describes his fortitude during a long illness that “crushed . . . all but his heart and his mind.” A sympathetic review in the Morning Advertiser makes allowance for the exaggerated praise by the poet’s family and expresses a preference for the shorter poems over the tragedy, but pays tribute to “many proofs of talent and taste.” (findmypast.com 30 Apr. 2024; Morning Advertiser 9 Dec. 1830; GM 101 [1831], 624; “Weaver [sic], William,” A Naval Biographical Dictionary [1849]; Naval and Military Gazette [London] 21 May 1864) HJ