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Images Index> Matlock Dale> This page |
| Matlock Dale : High Tor Guest House, 1945-50 |
| Matlock Dale: Twentieth Century Photographs, Postcards, Engravings & Etchings |
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So who lived here in the nineteenth century? It was built by Colonel Edward Payne[2] but by 1831 Henry Salkeld James Collingwood and his family were living at Tor Cottage, as it was then known[3]. Despite stories that have circulated for at least 80 years this family are not descended from, nor are known to be related to, Admiral Lord Collingwood of The Battle of Trafalgar fame[4]. Other inhabitants / owners include William Hurd Aldam, an Attorney, who was here in 1862[5]. By 1881 George Stevenson, described as a Retired Grocer, was living at the property[6]. His wife Caroline (nee Wheatcroft) was born in Matlock Bath and the couple married at Holy Trinity on 24 June 1862. Caroline was a daughter of Edward Wheatcroft of Matlock Bath. The Stevensons were followed by the Tophams[7] and John H[olman] Hay, a Retired Civil Servant, was living at Tor House by the turn of the century[8]. Trade directories of the time listed Tor Cottage as being in Matlock Bath but census returns record it as being part of Matlock. Colonel Thomas Stokes George Hugh Robertson-Aikman bought the property in 1901[9]. However, in 1913 the house "for some years had been the occasional residence of Colonel Aikman" and it was to be put up for sale[10]. It was still on the market in 1917, either for lease or sale, and advertised as "suitable as a family residence, school or private hotel"[11]. Tor Dale eventually sold and in August 1921 Mrs. Albert Law advertised Matlock Garden School (later Matlock Modern School), for girls and young boys, at the property[12]. The High Tor Guest House has been a private home, a lodging house, a guest house, an hotel and even a school in the almost 200 years since it was built. Unfortunately, this postcard was never used so there is no helpful postmark to date it. Whilst the garden, sundial, trees and house painting all look pre-war, another feature excludes this as a possibility. Some photographs taken immediately post-war show some vigorous growth against the railing to the right and it is most likely, therefore, that this photograph was taken at that time. It was undoubtedly printed for Mr. and Mrs. Grant as they ran the High Tor Guest House then.
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Postcard in the collection of, provided by and © Ann Andrews. Intended for personal use only. Information provided especially for this web site and researched by Colin Goodwyn and Ann Andrews. Please get in touch if you are a descendant of the Collingwoods as Colin would like to hear from you. |
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References (coloured hyperlinks are to transcripts elsewhere on this web site): [1] See the postcards of Matlock Dale on this web site [2] Adam, W. (1840) "The Gem of the Peak" London; Longman & Co., Paternoster Row - see the section "The north entrance to Matlock Dale" [3] "Pigot's Directory", 1831 (see Gentry), also the 1841 census entry for the family [4] Admiral Lord Collingwood had two daughters, so the Matlock Collingwood's could not have been his descendants. [5] "General Commercial Directory
and Topography of the Borough of Sheffield with all the Towns,
Parishes, Villages and Hamlets Within a Circuit of Twenty Miles",
pub. Francis White & Co. Sheffield (1862) - see
on site transcript. [6] 1881 census - Stevenson. Also see the 1861 census, when Caroline was still living with her parents and the 1861 census when her husband was with his parents. [7] 1891 census - Topham - Herbert was a Retired Surgeon [8] 1901 census - Hay. [9] "Derbyshire Times", 3 August 1901. Col. Aikman had recently been appointed Master of the High Peak Harriers. [10] "Derbyshire Advertiser and Journal", 25 July 1913. A well known house to be sold. [11] "Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer", 21 September 1917 [12] "Derbyshire Advertiser and Journal", 27 August 1920. |
See H J Collingwood's name in