Matthew Ellison Hadfield
Encyclopedia
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
Gothic revival. He is chiefly known for his work on Roman Catholic churches, including the cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
churches of Salford
City of Salford
The City of Salford is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It is named after its largest settlement, Salford, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns of Eccles, Swinton-Pendlebury, Walkden and Irlam which apart from Irlam each have a population of over...
and Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
.
Training
Hadfield was born at Lees Hall in GlossopGlossop
Glossop is a market town within the Borough of High Peak in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the Glossop Brook, a tributary of the River Etherow, about east of the city of Manchester, west of the city of Sheffield. Glossop is situated near Derbyshire's county borders with Cheshire, Greater...
, Derbyshire, the son of Joseph Hadfield and Mary Hadfield (neé Ellison). He attended Woolton Grove Academy in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, and subsequently, between 1827 and 1831, he worked for his uncle Michael Ellison (his mother's brother), agent of the estates of the Dukes of Norfolk in Sheffield. From 1831 he was articled to the architectural firm of Woodhead and Hurst of Doncaster, and then to P. F. Robinson of London. He married Sarah Frith of Sheffield around this time.
Career
Practising as an architect in Sheffield from 1834, Hadfield's first commission was the design of the Cholera MonumentCholera Monument Grounds and Clay Wood
The Cholera Monument is a memorial in Sheffield, England to the victims of a cholera epidemic of 1832. 402 victims of the disease were buried in grounds between Park Hill and Norfolk Park adjoining Clay Wood. Money from the treasurers of the Board of Health was set aside for a monument for the...
in Sheffield, a memorial to the 402 victims of the cholera epidemic of 1832 in the city. In 1838 Hadfield entered a partnership in Sheffield with John Grey Weightman, which lasted until 1858. In 1850 they were joined by their former pupil George Goldie
George Goldie (architect)
George Goldie was a nineteenth century ecclesiastical architect who specialised in Roman Catholic churches.Goldie was born in York and was the grandson of the architect Joseph Bonomi the Elder...
, and the partnership between Hadfield and Goldie lasted until 1860. From 1864 or 1865 Hadfield was in partnership with his son Charles Hadfield (1840-1916). After Hadfield's death in 1885, his son continued the practice, and was later joined in partnership by Hadfield's grandson Charles Matthew Ellison Hadfield (1867- 1949).
Rotherham
Rotherham is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Don, at its confluence with the River Rother, between Sheffield and Doncaster. Rotherham, at from Sheffield City Centre, is surrounded by several smaller settlements, which together form the wider Metropolitan Borough of...
, St Hilda's, Whitby
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a combined maritime, mineral and tourist heritage, and is home to the ruins of Whitby Abbey where Caedmon, the...
, and St Catherine's, Littlehampton. His largest and most significant work was St John's Church
Salford Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of St. John the Evangelist, usually known as Salford Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England. Located on Chapel Street, Salford , not far from Manchester city centre, it is the seat of the Bishop of Salford and mother...
in Salford (1844-1848) which in 1850 was elevated to cathedral status upon the restoration of the Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales. St John's was in the decorated style, as was St Marie's Church
Cathedral Church of St Marie, Sheffield
The Cathedral Church of St Marie is the Roman Catholic cathedral in Sheffield, England. It lies in a slightly hidden location, just off the main shopping street in the city, but signals its presence with a tall spire. It is an especially fine example of an English Roman Catholic Church, with much...
in Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
(1847-1850; elevated to cathedral status in 1980). A further cathedral commission, in the form of the Cathedral of the Annunciation and St. Nathy
Ballaghaderreen Cathedral
Ballaghaderreen Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Achonry...
, Ballaghaderreen
Ballaghaderreen
Ballaghaderreen is a town in County Roscommon. It is located on the N5 National primary road. The town has become a bottleneck on the N5 route in recent years and the opening of the Charlestown bypass down the road has exacerbated the problem...
, in the diocese of Achonry
Achonry
Achonry is a village in County Sligo, Ireland.In the parish is the former Church of Ireland Cathedral of St Crumnathy, now deconsecrated.-See also:* List of towns and villages in Ireland-External links:** — photograph at flickr.com...
, Ireland, came in 1855 (completed 1860).
Hadfield also designed railway stations, including that at Glossop
Glossop railway station
Glossop railway station serves the town of Glossop in Derbyshire, England and is the third busiest railway station in the county of Derbyshire after Derby and Chesterfield, with an estimated 700,000 people using the station in 2009/10....
, together with the Wicker Arches
Wicker Arches
The Wicker Arches form a long railway viaduct across the Don Valley in the City of Sheffield, England. They take their name from the thoroughfare The Wicker, which passes through the main arch of the viaduct and was, until the completion of the Sheffield Parkway, the main route eastwards from the...
viaduct, in the neo-classical style, in Sheffield in 1848.
Other buildings by Hadfield & Sons
- St Mary's Church, Llanfair-yng-NghornwySt Mary's Church, Llanfair-yng-NghornwySt Mary's Church, Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy is a medieval parish church in the north-west of Anglesey, north Wales. The date of foundation of the church, which is in the village of Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy, is unknown, but the oldest parts date from the 11th or 12th century...
(restoration 1847, Weightman and Hadfield) - St Vincent's Church, SheffieldSt Vincent's Church, SheffieldSt Vincent’s Church is a disused Roman Catholic church situated on Solly Street at its junction with Hollis Croft in the centre of the City of Sheffield, South Yorkshire.-Irish emigration to Sheffield:...
(Chapel-school) - Chapel at St Michael's Cemetery, SheffieldSt Michael's Cemetery, SheffieldSt Michael’s Cemetery is a Catholic burial ground in the Rivelin Valley area of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The cemetery stands on a steep hillside on the south side of Rivelin Valley Road at its junction with Rivelin Road and Hollins Lane.-History:...
- Sheffield United Gas Light Company OfficesSheffield United Gas Light Company OfficesThe former Sheffield United Gas Light Company Offices is a Grade II listed building situated on the northern side of Commercial Street in the centre of the City of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It was originally known as Panache House and this is carved above the western doorway of the...
Sources
- Roderick O'Donnell, 'Matthew Ellison Hadfield', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography