 Formerly known as "bad Uncle Matthew", he eloped with Kay's Aunt Enid sometime around 1905, as a result of a visit to Midways, the Derrick family home, to do a piece on stately homes while a cub reporter for the "Home Companion".The family outcast until the death of Kay's father and the revelation that the old Colonel had invested badly, he saved the day by kindly taking her in.By the time we meet him in "Sam the Sudden", he is an elderly widowed gentleman, tall, with grey hair and a scholarly stoop, who enjoys a game of chess with his old friend Mr Cornelius.