Former Eton master held over Cotswolds murder of his Agatha Christie devotee mother
A FORMER Eton College master appeared in court yesterday accused of murdering his elderly mother.
Matthew Corry, 45, had been living with Beatrice, 84, in her apartment within a converted grammar school in the Cotswolds.
Police were called to Chipping Campden’s High Street last Friday and found Mrs Corry – a devotee of thriller writer Agatha Christie – with head injuries, which she later died from.
Corry was remanded in custody at Bristol Crown Court. Judge Martin Picton ordered reports and the case was adjourned until February 17.
Grandmother Mrs Corry was an aficionado of Miss Christie, who created the detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She had even previously lived in a home once owned by the best-selling novelist, who died aged 85 in 1976.
Mrs Corry, described as a ‘sprightly’ retired teacher and volunteer, had led a meeting of a history group – part of the University of the Third Age – on January 3. Fellow member David Pegg said she ‘didn’t appear to be troubled by anything’.
He added: ‘She was a lovely, selfless woman who did a lot of volunteering. Beatrice was extremely well-known. She had a wonderful apartment in the town and she was still very active considering her age. Before she took over from me as chairman of the history group, she used to sort out the tea and coffee for everybody.’
Mrs Corry had volunteered at a Campden Home Nursing charity shop across the road from her flat since it opened in 2019. The charity provides nursing for the terminally ill who wish to be cared for at home. Paying trib
‘A lovely and selfless woman’
ute, the charity’s Helen Makaritis said: ‘Beatrice was an incredible lady. She had so much energy and would regularly have completed a five-mile walk before her shift in the shop.
‘Described as a “force of nature” by the shop team, she was always positive and never afraid to voice her opinion – a very intelligent lady who was knowledgeable about so many things. Never without a scarf or a twinkle in her eye, she was loved by us all.’
Mrs Corry had previously lived in an apartment in a building called The Styles, which was a former home of Miss Christie.
The property in Sunningdale, Berkshire, was named after her first novel The Mysterious Affair At Styles featuring Poirot, which was published in 1920. Mrs Corry and other residents compiled a collection of Christie works to go in a hallway. She told a magazine: ‘I thought it was an obvious thing to start a collection.’ She also had framed newspaper reports about Miss Christie’s famous 11-day disappearance from the property in 1926 amid marriage troubles. Mrs Corry’s son moved into teaching after attending a private school in Ascot.
He was on the staff at Eton until 2008 when he moved on to a preparatory school in Oxford.
He also taught biology at Godolphin and Latymer girls’ school in west London where former pupils include ex-PM Boris Johnson’s wife Carrie, TV host Davina McCall and celebrity cook Nigella Lawson.
Corry is understood to have left his post in April 2020.