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Garden House, Mount Pleasant, early 1900s

Garden House / Benet House / Pleasure Gardens / Mount Pleasant

History of the Garden House

Pleasure Gardens

In 1897 at the age of 47 Arthur Matthew became engaged to Maude Illsley, 19.  By this time some of the 99 year leases on the Pleaseure Garden plots were being negotiated with St John’s by some of the tenants. Substantial buildings were being erected on the plots such as ‘Elterholm’ and ‘Fossedene‘.

Arthur followed suit and The Garden House was built in 1897, designed by the Cambridge architect Ernest Gosling. The name was chosen in a hurry; a “Garden House” already existed in Cambridge at the bottom of St Mary’s Lane.

The house had four servants, cook, parlour maid, kitchen maid and nanny. There was a gardener who was to later marry the nanny.

Bernard Matthew (quoted in Cambridge Grocer by Judy Wilson p77) wrote about the challenge his mother Maude faced in her new role: My mother being so young when she married, had not much experience of housekeeping and the management of servants, so she was somewhat thrown in at the deep end when she found that she had to entertain relations and business friends of my father’s. After the initial stages I understand that she was an excellent hostess. She had to manage a sizeable staff and was almost completely dependent on her cook. She had not been adequately taught to cook by her mother, nor was it possible for the mistress of the house to do anything in the kitchen after the menus for the day had been settled after breakfast.

Maude held the keys of a large locked store cupboard in the kitchen from which she would issue the daily requirements, other than perishables. The washing was sent out to Mrs Bailey who lived in Auckland Road and a Matthew’s horse-drawn van from Trinity Street would call to collect a large hamper of washing on Monday mornings, returning it on Fridays.

Maude learned to drive and was one of the first two women drivers in Cambridge. The family initially had a carriage but in 1915 they purchased their first car, a Rover 14.

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1913 Garden House

Arthur Matthew

Arthur died in 1917 and Maude, aged 38, had become one of the three Trustees for Matthew and Son and Chairman of the Board of Directors under the terms of the will. It was unusual for a woman to Chair a Board of Directors, but she was not the first in Cambridge, for Elizabeth Lilley had temporarily been in charge of Eaden Lilley when her husband William Eaden Lilley died in 1837. Arthur had been ill for some time so there had been time to plan for the succession.

Maude remained as Chair until 1937, when the position was taken by her son, Bernard. In the meantime Bernard studied at Clare College as well as gaining experience in other large grocery businesses.

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1934

The Matthew family moved to 21 Madingley Road.

Bernard Matthew married Enid and set up home in Caxton.

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1937 Garden House

Major C Braithwaite Wallis

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1962 Benet House

Benet House: Downside House of Studies

Rev C Roy Mark Pontifex

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