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Matthews parents were Thomas and Elizabeth Caffyn, they farmed in Horsham and Matthew was their youngest son. At the time of his birth they were regular worshipers at the parish church of St. Mary, all seven of their sons were baptised here; John in 1613, Thomas in 1615, followed by William in 1617 and then James in 1619. After James came Francis in 1620 and Richard in 1623. Finally Matthew was christened there on the 26th October 1628.
Matthew was adopted by a local family, the Onslows, to be a companion to their son of the same age when he was seven years old. This was not an adoption as it is today, but rather an agreement between families; Matthew would get a better upbringing and good quality education which would not be possible if he remained with his parents. He would still have seen his own family frequently. Matthew and the unnamed Onslow child went to grammar school in Canterbury and then on to Oxford where they went to All Souls College to study divinity. This was at the time of the Civil War, during which Oxford was the headquarters of King Charles army.
It is thought that it was while Matthew was at All Souls College that he began to question infant baptism, and as a consequence Matthew was expelled from the University. This was not surprising as this was a time when it was not healthy to do anything but toe the line, and the current view was that Church of England was everything and no other religion was to be considered. Matthew returned home to his parents and spent some time helping his father on the farm. He was 17 years old.
Whilst working with his father he also became involved in a local group of Baptists and began to preach locally. According to the writings of Emily Kensett “his enthusiasm and earnestness largely increasing the number of worshippers”. During one of his services he was arrested and taken to Newgate prison where he remained for a year. It was eventually the Onslow family who were able to get Matthew released. (The picture on the left is taken from Matthew Caffin biography written by Florence Gregg in 1890 - it is meant to represent Matthews arrest.)
On the 8th February 1653 Matthew married Elizabeth Jeffery who he had met whilst preaching in Kent. Matthew continued his preaching and was arrested on a further four occasions under the ordinance for the suppression of heresies and blasphemies. His own family was growing, as his father had seven sons so did Matthew but he went one better with a daughter as well. Following in the Baptist tradition none of Matthews children were baptised. They are, in no particular order, Matthew, Joseph, Daniel, Sarah, Benjamin, Thomas, Stephen and Jacob.
During the integrenum the persecution of Baptists and other religions lessoned but began again in earnest with the reign of Charles II. However Matthew lived long enough to see the end of religous intolerance and plans to construct the first permanant Baptist Church in Horsham were made. Matthew ordained his son Matthew in 1709 and he took over his fathers role.
During his lifetime Matthew made many supporters and many enemies. To his enemies he was the ‘chief seducer’ from the regular faith but to his supporters (Caffinites) he was the ‘battle axe and weapon of war’. I can’t comment on his specific beliefs, I don’t even begin to understand his writings, but Matthew stood up for his beliefs and persisted against great odds, quietly fighting for the right for people to have their own beliefs even if they go against the accepted view.
As Matthew lived nearly 400 years ago there is a lot that is not known about his life. When Florence Gregg wrote her biography of his life much of what she wrote was complete fiction, a romantic version of Matthews life avoiding any hint of realism. She refered to Matthew as a Caffin because what little information she obtained came from a Caffin branch of the family. General convention spells Matthews name as a Caffyn although he himself spelt his surname many different ways throughout his life. Little is known about Matthews father Thomas. It is suggested by a number of sources that Thomas was a German who came to England to work for the Onslow family. This is generally thought to be incorrect but there are few facts to support either arguement. It is sometimes suggested that Matthew had a second daughter, Elizabeth Rire. In his will he refers to Elizabeth as his kinswomen whilst his son Stephen refers to her as his sister. As Matthew refers to Sarah as ‘my daughter’ I think it is more likely that Elizabeth is a cousin or similar who grew up with his children without actually being his daughter.
Matthew died in 1714 and was buried under the yew tree in Itchingfield Churchyead, the stone that was errected to mark his grave has now gone. However a more permanent memorial remains in the church that was built in Horsham in 1720 and still functions as a church today. A window reads:
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