ONE of two men believed to have drowned in Budleigh Salterton’s Christmas Day sea swimming tragedy was from Wellington.

Antiques dealer Matthew Upham, aged 63, at one time lived in North Street, Wellington, when he was company secretary of Ebury Trading Ltd, from which he resigned in March, 1995.

Mr Upham went on to run Matthew Upham Antiques in Kings Road, London, before relocating after four decades with his partner James Upham to the East Devon seaside town.

Devon and Cornwall Police have not named either of the men still missing after a traditional Christmas Day dip in the sea turned to disaster, but Mr Upham’s family identified him in a heartrending message on social media.

Mr Upham was known to be a strong swimmer who swam in the sea almost every day and it was thought he was trying to save other people who were in difficulty in the water.

Hundreds of people, some wearing Santa hats, had gone to Budleigh Salterton beach on Christmas morning, many to take a short swim in the sea.

Some were thought to have been reassured by the presence offshore of an RNLI lifeboat, although it later transpired the crew were on an exercise and not officially providing support for the unofficial event.

But, as huge waves suddenly started to batter the shoreline many swimmers were knocked over and injured and some swept out to sea, prompting the lifeboat to begin a rescue operation.

Budleigh Salterton was just outside the area of a yellow weather warning issued by the Met Office for strong winds all day on Christmas Day, which included Wellington and surrounding communities.

However, despite a similar swim passing off without incident in nearby Exmouth, which was within the yellow warning zone, the sea turned as rough as some locals had ever seen.

Coastguards launched a search and rescue operation but at the end of the day Mr Upham and another man in his 40s were missing.

In the social media post, Major H. Upham said: “Our family is heartbroken by the loss of our beloved family member Matthew Upham, who was reported missing on Christmas Morning.

“Matthew is deeply loved and will be forever missed.

“We would like to express our sincere and heartfelt thanks to the emergency services who responded, particularly the RNLI and Coastguard, for their dedication, professionalism, and tireless efforts during this extremely difficult time.

“We are profoundly grateful for their compassion and support.

“As we grieve and support one another, we kindly ask that our family’s privacy is respected.

“We thank everyone for their understanding, kindness, and condolences.”

Police have appealed for anybody with relevant information who had not already spoken to officers to call 101 or report it via its website and quote log 191 of 25/12/25.

Det Supt Hayley Costar said: “Emergency services have been responding to a truly tragic incident in Budleigh Salterton.

“Our thoughts remain firmly with the families and friends of the two men who are currently missing and to all who may have witnessed and be impacted by the incident.

“The local community will have seen a significant amount of emergency services in the area throughout the day as extensive inquiries have been ongoing.

“There have been weather warnings in place and a number of official and unofficial swims have already been cancelled.

“While there are no official warnings, we urge anybody with plans to go swimming in the sea on Boxing Day not to.”

Tributes to Mr Upham have been posted on social media by people who knew him, with one saying “I knew Matthew well during the Kings Road years.

“The generosity, the kind spirt, he was a wonderful friend to have.

“Many an evening spent in wonderful company with him and Annie and friends upstairs at the dinner table.

“He was somebody who would be there in any situation and asked for nothing back.

“I will miss him.”

Another wrote: “He was a lovely man and his wonderful presence on the Kings Road and Lillie Road has been missed since his move to the coast.”