George Maddison

 

Canon Maddison

George Maddison was born on June 9th 1809 at Lea, near Gainsborough, the son of the Revd George Maddison, Vicar of North Reston, and his wife, the former Miss Jane Baskett, daughter of the Revd Kingsman Baskett, Master of Pocklington School.  He took his B.A. degree at Jesus College Cambridge in 1832, and his M.A. at St Caherine's College, Cambridge in 1835. Before coming to Grantham he was curate of Broughton, Yorkshire in 1832, and Vicar of All Saints Cambridge 1838-1856. He was appointed Surrogate for the Archdeaconry of Ely in 1846 and Rural Dean of Cambridge in 1853.

The main part of the restoration of St Wulfram's Church took place whilst George Maddison was Vicar. When he left Grantham in 1874, the parishioners wished to pay tribute to "the untiring energy and faithfulness with which, for over seventeen years, he had discharged the function of his sacred office, and the excellent endeavours he had used for the spiritual and temporal welfare of his people."  This appreciation took the form of a memorial window which is on the south wall of the church, towards the Lady Chapel. The window was dedicated on Whitsunday 1875 and shows the Life of our Lord. It is one of the three windows which followed the designs in the report by the Venerable Edward Trollope, Archdeacon of Stow (1867).

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The inscription on the window reads: "To commemorate the many valuable services rendered to this parish by the Revd George Maddison M.A. Prebendary of Lincoln & Vicar of Grantham from 1856 to 1874 in token of their affectionate regards his friends present this window to the church in which he so faithfully ministered. A.D. 1875."

After leaving Grantham, George Maddison was Rector of Richard's Castle, Shropshire, and Archdeacon of Ludlow from 1877, until increasing infirmities led him to resign .The last two or three years of his life were spent at the home of his son, Revd G H Maddison, Vicar of Tuckhill near Bridgnorth, where he passed away peacefully on 30th January 1895. He was 85 years old. His body was brought back to Grantham from Bridgnorth by rail, and his coffin lay in the hall of the Vicarage before the funeral service at St Wulfram's. The flag on the Guildhall Tower flew at half-mast.

Many tributes were paid to "the most successful Vicar that Grantham has ever possessed," and praised his "great work for the town," describing him as a "staunch friend, faithful adviser, and true father of his people."

On 5th February 1895 George Maddison was buried in 'an ordinary grave, lined with ivy and flowers" in the south-eastern part of Grantham Cemetery, in the same grave where his wife Jane had been buried in 1891.

(Summarised from Death of the Ven. Archdeacon Maddison, Grantham Journal February 2nd 1895, and Funeral of the Late Archdeacon Maddison, Grantham Journal February 9th 1895).