In The Deverills & Crockerton Parish News, April 2023, Richard Baxter writes:
Marcus Matthews at 50. There was a large gathering of family and friends at Longbridge Deverill Hall to celebrate Marcus Matthews’ 50th birthday. Wonderfully organised by Marcus, with help from cousin Wendy Hodgson, we enjoyed delicious food and drinks and chocolate birthday cake. Guests came from far and wide, including Cornwall and France.
Marcus has lived all his life in Crockerton, he is best known for magazine articles and a book on his specialist subject of Big Cats. His father, General Mark Matthews, lived at Thornhill for some years and is fondly remembered as a MFH by the South & West Wilts Hunt. Marcus’s mother, Heather’s maiden name was Shackleton, making Marcus second cousin three times removed of great polar explorer Ernest Shackleton.