Person Page 144

She was the daughter of Edward Bennett and Charlotte Read.

He enlisted in the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers in Dec 1907 aged 18. He was subject to several disciplinary charges for disobedience and being absent with leave. His father attempted to arrange for his discharge in Oct 1909, but he was named as a deserter on his service record at the end of that month. He was admitted to the North Dublin Workhouse in April 1914 but discharged the following day.

He was named simply Matthew Meredith on his civil birth registration in 1894, but may have been given additional names on his baptism. His name was given as Matthew Alphonsus Meredith on the certificate of his marriage to Mary O’Connell in Dublin in 1918.
He was enumerated in the following censuses:
- 1901 Ireland census aged 6 with his widowed father Charles at 13 Montpelier Hill, Dublin.
- 1911 England census at Bedford Lodge Cottage, Newmarket, England, and described as Mathew Alphonso Meredith, aged 16, stableman, born in Dublin.
- 1921 census with his wife Mary and daughter Maureen in the household of a widow Lucy Fowell at Eaton Road, Tarporley, Chester, and described as a Horse Breaker.
- 1939 England & Wales Register at the Riding School, Brackley, and described as a Riding Master, Horse Breaker and Horse Dealer. His name was given as Mathew Meredith, with an annotation of “Wilson Alphonse” after it. His date of birth was given incorrectly as 21 July 1893 (assuming the date on the birth certificate is correct). He was enumerated with Mary, Maureen, Francis M P, and Catherine Meredith.

He published a brochure in the 1930s-40s advertising the Meredith Riding School in Brackley (see the citation at the foot of this page).

The Northampton Mercury reported on 15 Nov 1940 that a disused stable at the riding school was being used as a place of worship by Roman Catholics in the town. Mass was celebrated there for the first time publicly in Brackley since the Reformation.

He was the subject of a half-page article in the Derby Daily Telegraph in 1960 which gave a colourful account of his career as a horseman up to that point (see article image below).

His obituary appeared in the Horse And Hounds on 3 Aug 1973 as follows:

“OBITUARY
Matthew Meredith brought elegance to horses he rode

The death occurred recently of the fine horse-master Mr. Matthew Meredith, who was in his 8lst year. He made his first show ring appearance at Dublin, his native city, when he was eight-years-old, riding a hunter belonging to his father, who was considered one of the best horsemen in Dublin.
At 12, he was sent as an apprentice to the Hon. George Lambton in Newmarket, for whom he became trial jockey. Growing too tall for hopes of success in the racing world, he began schooling horses.
For many seasons he schooled polo ponies, chiefly for King Alfonso of Spain, and Major Scott Robson. In 1925, he was asked to pilot Baroness Rothschild in the hunting field and to teach her children to ride in Vienna. Also during the 1920s and 1930s he began producing show hacks and had several big successes at Olympia, where Lord Lonsdale once referred to him as "a poem on a horse.”
He continued riding and showing horses until he was 75, but despite failing health still tutored children on the finer points of riding.
He was gifted with a wonderful sense of humour, and much courage. He brought elegance to any horse he chose to ride.
ANON”.^3,4,5