Matthew Ellison Hadfield was born at Lees Hall in Glossop, Derbyshire, England on 8 September 1812 and was articled to John Woodhead (?-c.1838) and William Hurst (1787-1844) of Woodhead & Hurst. He worked with John Gray Weightman (1801-1872) in Sheffield, South Yorkshire from 1834 to 1836 and by 1838 they had formed a formal partnership as Hadfield & Weightman. They were joined by George Goldie (1828-1887) in 1852 and the firm was renamed Hadfield, Weightman & Goldie. In 1858 Weightman withdrew from the partnership. Hadfield remained in partnership with Goldie until 1860. Hadfield then worked alone until 1864 when he formed a partnership with his son, Charles Hadfield (1840?-1916) as M. E. Hadfield & Son
M. E. Hadfield's work as an architect was largely influenced by the Gothic Revival movement. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1835 and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1847. He died at Knowle House in Sheffield, South Yorkshire on 9 March 1885.
M. E. Hadfield designed numerous buildings for the Roman Catholic church including St John's Roman Catholic Cathedral in Salford, Lancashire (1844-48). He also designed railway stations including that at Glossop, Derbyshire, completed in 1845, and in 1848 he designed the Wicker Arches railway viaduct in Sheffield for the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway.
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 1: A-K. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001
‘Matthew Ellison Hadfield’. Yorkshire Architect vol. 117, November/December 1987 p. 30
‘Obituary’. Transactions of the Royal Institute of British Architects new series, vol. 2, 1886 p. 11