A familiar and much-loved figure left us when Brother Matthew died on 15th September. He had clearly been failing for some time, his tiny frame shrinking more and more, and it was not surprising when he had some sort of seizure. He lingered for a few days, rarely conscious, but then peaceful and prayerful. The fear of death which had long afflicted him, seemed to disappear.
He was born in Warwickshire on 14th February 1879, and was admitted to Fort Augustus as a Laybrother postulant in August, 1895. Two years later he was given the Habit, and a month after his twenty-first birthday he made his Profession. He had had, however, a lonely and unhappy childhood, and that left an effect on his nervous system and he soon became unhappy: he imagined enmities against him which did not exist. For a change of environment he was accepted here in 1915 and settled down happily enough for a few years. Then, as was to be expected, the same unhappy delusions returned: he thought that nearly every man's hand was against him. This malady was almost entirely removed where so many maladies have been cured, when Fr John Maddox took him with an Ampleforth Pilgrimage to Lourdes.
After that he never looked back, or with no more than an occasional and brief relapse, and his delightful sense of humour had free play. He made himself extremely useful in many small ways, and took pleasure in performing secret acts of charity. Those and his interest in anniversaries and in meteorology, together with his childlike piety, seemed to fill his lovable life. May he rest in peace.
MATTHEW FRANCIS [JACKSON] 15 September 1960
1879 14 Feb Born Princethorpe Warwickshire
1897 2 Sep Habit as Laybrother at Fort Augustus
1900 19 Mar Professed
1915 7 Sep Came to Ampleforth
1960 15 Sep Died at Ampleforth
Buried at Ampleforth