Matthew was born 18 June 1839 at Itteringham, Norfolk, the illegitimate son of the Horatio William Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford, his mother, Charlotte Slipper, being employed as a seamstress at Mannington Hall.
The Earl’s private priest, the Reverend Cremer-Cremer officiated at the baptism at Itteringham Church.
The Walpoles paid for his education and set up his indentures as an apprentice at Itteringham water mill.
Matthew was listed as journeyman miller in the 1841 census.
He later became the miller at Warby’s windmill, now Mill Cottage at Upper Sheringham, marrying the girl next door at Ivy Lodge.
In 1861 he married Susan Cooper of Upper Sheringham. They had 10 children 8 of which survived. There are 2 graves in the churchyard at Upper Sheringham.
The 1891 census shows Matthew as the publican of the Lobster Inn at Sheringham.
Matthew was much involved in the local leadership, now council. He handled the Poor Law money in Lower Sheringham. One of his sons was the Village Constable, another had a sweet shop and a third was a grocer and two daughters were teachers at the Upper Sheringham School. Matthew was clearly a champion of the fishermen at Sheringham. The local council of the day erected posts in a passage way between the West Beach in Sheringham and the East Beach. This prevented the fishermen from the west beach reaching the Fish Auctions, which were held on the east beach, with their barrows. It is told that Matthew and a colleague, possibly from the Crown Inn near the Lobster, removed the posts at dead of night. Everyone knew who had done ‘the deed’ but not a person spoke out. The passage is known as Slipper’s Loke and is marked as such on the Town map of today.
Matthew died on 4th November 1919 in West Bridgeford, Nottinghamshire where he was living with his son, Albert, who was a commercial traveller. He was buried in West Bridgeford on 7th November.
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