Lindsey Hodgkinson (1812-1893) was a Grocer and the Postmaster for Matlock Bridge in Queen Victoria's reign^[1]. He was the younger of the two sons of Samuel Hodgkinson of Matlock by his second wife, Catherine Wild, and was baptised at Matlock on 12 September 1813^[2]. The couple had seven children altogether, but not all of their children survived into adulthood^[3]. Two years after his father died Lindsey married Mary Chadwin, the eldest daughter of Mrs. Betty Brinsley who lived in Matlock Dale and ran a carrier business^[3]. Mary had been born in Brassington, where her grandfather lived on a large farm, and she was baptised there in 1816.

A family account, written by his great grand daughter, records that Lindsey Hodgkinson had "a farm that stretched from Holt Hall up Masson. When the railway came, it cut off the farm and cut off the water for the cattle so Lindsey sold it and divided the proceeds of the farm between his two sons George and Joseph. George had the printing works and garden and Joseph had The Mart, which was an auction rooms. He had an aviary at the end of his garden. Joseph married Miss Statham from Dale Road and Ms. Statham's brother was the painting master who taught Gran to paint^[5]". Lindsey also represented the General Life and Fire Assurance Company as their Matlock agent for a time^[6]. He and his family can be found in all the Matlock Bridge census returns^[7].

Although the late Victorian photograph below is rather dark it shows the large number of people who paid their respects on 22 Apr 1893 when Lindsey Hodgkinson was buried. He was interred at St. Giles and his widow, Mary, was buried there the following year^[8].

Below is a photograph of Holt House on Holt Lane, the home of Lindsey and Mary's son Joseph. The Post Office the Hodgkinson's ran was just round the corner at the bottom of Snitterton Road^[7]. According to the family, there used to be a pulley on the building so that George didn't have to get out of bed when the post arrived - the postbag was hooked on to the pulley and he wound it up and took it in the window. It is not know which member of the family is sitting on the balcony above the bay window. It is hard to date the photo, but was probably taken around 1900.

Holt House, Holt Lane. Samuel Hodgkinson bought the shop and house in 1803[9].

Lindsey's half-sister, Mary, drowned in the Derwent. The report of the accident can be found on Matlock, Riber & Starkholmes Newspaper Cuttings,1828.

References (coloured links are to transcripts and information elsewhere on this web site):

^[1] Freebody's Matlock Directory, 1852 shows : Post, Matlock Bridge, Receiving House at Lindsey Hodgkinson's. Also see other Nineteenth Century Trade Directories

^[2] Lindsey was baptised at St. Giles

^[3] See the 1841 census entry, when Lindsey Hodgkinson's parents were still living. His youngest sister, Margaret, was to marry Francis Clay of Matlock Green, a descendant of the 5 X great grandfather of the web mistress.

^[4] Mary Chadwin's 1841 census entry, living with her mother in Matlock Dale (Mary Brinsley in that census). Her marriage was announced in The Derby Mercury, 17 June 17, 1846: "On Thursday last, at Matlock, by the Rev. H. Melville, Mr F. [sic] Hodgkinson, postmaster, Matlock Bridge, to Mary, eldest daughter of Mrs. Brinsley, of the same place"

^[5] From Memories of Peggy Kempster, who was a great grand daughter of Lindsey and Mary. These memories were written for her children and the "Gran" who was mentioned was Margaret, the wife of Major Harry Douglas who was the last Manager of Smedley's Hydro. The person referred to as the brother of Joseph Hodgkinson's wife Mary was William Nathan Statham, who also became a photographer.

^[6] "The Derby Mercury", 6 July, 1853 and also Kelly's Directory 1855

^[7] Census references for Lindsey and Mary: 1851 census | 1861 census | 1871 census | 1881 census | 1891 census. In 1901 Joseph and family were at Holt House (see Matlock:
Letterheads of Local Businesses, 1900-1949 (2)) and George was at the PO, both Holt Lane (see the 1901 census transcripts)

^[8] Lindsey died on 19 April 1893 (see Wills) and Mary was buried in he same grave on 25 June 1894.

^[9] From a pedigee drawn up by Mrs. Margaret Douglas of Matlock, now owned by family members.