Samuel Matthews (died 1802), better known as the Dulwich Hermit was an 18th-century

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Chr ...

. His murder in 1802 went unresolved. Samuel matthews 1803

Biography

Matthews was born in south

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

about 1733, and came to

Dulwich Dulwich (; ) is an area in south London, England. The settlement is mostly in the London Borough of Southwark, with parts in the London Borough of Lambeth, and consists of Dulwich Village, East Dulwich, West Dulwich, and the Southwark half of H ...

in 1772, being employed as a gardener. He was described as having led a happy domestic life - living with his wife and four children. Upon the death of his wife in about 1775, he is said to have entered a deep melancholy, withdrawing from civilization. He solicited and obtained permission from the master and wardens of

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2-18 private, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

to dig a cave in

Dulwich Wood Dulwich Wood, together with the adjacent Sydenham Hill Wood, is the largest extant part of the ancient Great North Wood in the London Borough of Southwark.

and erect a hut over it. He lived twenty-three years in this dwelling. He was visited regularly by locals, who dubbed him as the ''Wild Man of the Wood'' and described him as quiet, friendly and learned man - quite apart from his savage and dirty surroundings. He was often irritated by mischievous boys and fellows, who would steal his provisions and throw stones at him. At around 1798, he was beaten by some local

Gypsy {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...

boys, who broke his arm and robbed him of 12 shillings. While recuperating, he became disgusted with his old habitation, and left to spend a year and a half with his son in Wales. Once he had recovered, he felt an urge to return to Dulwich and once again, obtained permission to build a new hut and cave (his former residence having been destroyed by gypsies). On an unknown day in December 1802, five boys, who at Christmas time, always made a tradition of visiting him, came across the mangled corpse of Matthews near his cave. He had been beaten to death. " ewas covered with fern and under his arm was an oaken branch about six or seven feet long, which it is supposed the villains put into the cave in order to hook him out…it appears likely the hook had been hitched into his mouth, there being a hole of the size of it quite through the cheek" according to the local newspaper report. Matthews had been seen the previous night by the local butcher, where he had paid off a small debt. Nearby gypsies were tried as suspects, but none were convicted, leading to the jury's verdict being "wilful murder, by person or persons unknown".

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{{reflist 1802 deaths English hermits People murdered in London 18th-century British people