The Scandal in Hanging Heaton

The village of Hanging Heaton in West Yorkshire gets its macabre name not from the gallows but from its topographical position on a steep hillside. The village is old, the pinnacled church of St. Paul's is recent - built in the 1820's. The Rev. Stephen Mathews had been vicar there since 1840.

In the summer of 1851, Mr. Mathews had reason to complain to the local magistrates that some lads had been throwing stones at him. In Hanging Heaton, the vicar had been the subject of gossip.  - not helped by the fact that his wife and children had moved to York. Worse, however, was the tale told that he had fathered an illegitimate child with a village girl of 16.

His position had become untenable and Mathews was required to attend the Dewsbury magistrates court where Mary Halliwell, "a widow's daughter with pretty features" gave her evidence in a modest manner. As a girl, she'd been taught by Mathews at the village school. As a teenager, she was a  "paid teacher." Mary claimed that she and Mathews had been involved for two years, having intercourse on several occasions and she gave birth to their son that May. As was ever the case, Mary Halliwell's innocence was attacked. She indignantly denied being intimate with any other men but there was contrary testimony. Mary was called a "liar and a strumpet." The law required corroboration; without any, the magistrates dismissed the charge. The Rev. Mathews left court, although serenaded with hisses and groans from the dissatisfied public. 

The magistrates, as was the custom at the time, included many clergymen. Pressure mounted and the case was called a second time. Some workmen claimed to have seen Mathews and Mary go into the schoolroom and draw the shades. Mary brought to court several gifts she testified receiving from the vicar. Again, the magistrates declined to act. 

The dispute had reached far beyond a small village. The Leeds Mercury called the action of the magistrates "perfectly inexplicable." The Rev. Mathews had been with this simple young woman "at unseasonable hours, in unfrequented places and in unseemly familiarity," conduct that was "totally inconsistent with his character as a clergyman and a gentleman."

The Bishop of Ripon, at last, agreed to name a commission of clergymen to review the case and Mathews agreed to refrain from his duties in the meantime. The clerical panel concluded that there was enough evidence to recommend the Bishop to take action. In March 1852, in Ripon Cathedral - Mathews was ruled guilty of the foul crime of adultery and deprived of his incumbency and its emoluments.

Mathews departed Hanging Heaton, leaving his former parish sharply divided. Many still believed him to be innocent of the charge against him. After some clerical inactivity, Mathews found new church employment as a curate in Zeal, Wiltshire. He died in 1866, having been rector of Bartlow in Cambridgeshire.

Clerical Errors - A Victorian Series, Vol II is available here.