Charles James Mathew,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, KC (24 October 1872 – 8 January 1923) was a British barrister and

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

politician. He was elected as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for Whitechapel and St Georges in the 1922 general election, but died seven weeks later. The second son of Sir James Charles Mathew, a

Lord Justice of Appeal A Lord Justice of Appeal or Lady Justice of Appeal is a judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, the court that hears appeals from the High Court of Justice, the Crown Court and other courts and tribunals. A Lord (or Lady) Justice ...

, Charles James Mathew was educated at

The Oratory School The Oratory School () is an HMC Co-educational independent Roman Catholic day and boarding school for pupils aged 11–18 located in Woodcote, north-west of Reading. Founded in 1859 by Saint John Henry Newman, The Oratory has historical ties t ...

, Edgbaston, Birmingham and

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...

. He was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

in 1897 and took silk in 1913, specialising in Chancery cases. He was also an expert in trade union law. A member of the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

since 1910, Mathew was also a member of the Statutory Committee on War Pensions and Chairman of the Special Grants Committee. He was made a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in 1917. Mathew's political views had moved steadily closer to the Labour Party, and he was selected by the party to fight the Whitechapel and St. George's constituency at the 1922 General Election.''The Times'', obit., 10 Jan 1923 At the poll, he defeated the incumbent Liberal MP,

James Kiley James Daniel Kiley (1865 – 12 September 1953) was a British businessman and Liberal Party politician who served in the House of Commons from 1916 to 1922 as a Member of Parliament (MP) for constituencies in the Whitechapel area of the East End ...

by just 428 votes. Mathew died, aged 50, after an operation, less than two months after his election, becoming one of the shortest-serving MPs in history. At the subsequent by-election

Harry Gosling Harry Gosling Order of the Companions of Honour, CH (9 June 1861 – 24 October 1930) was a Labour Party (UK), British Labour Party politician and trade union leader. Early life Gosling was born in 1861 at 57 York Street, Lambeth, London, on t ...

held the seat for Labour. A

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, he married in 1896,

Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century) * Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221) ...

, daughter of James Cassidy, of

Monasterevin Monasterevin (), also Monasterevan, and Mevin is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. The town lies on the River Barrow and the Barrowline, a canal branch of the Grand Canal. The population was 4,246 at the 2016 Census. Location and Access Situ ...

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, ...

. There were two sons and a daughter. His elder son, Sir Theobald Mathew, later became the

Director of Public Prosecutions The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is the office or official charged with the prosecution of criminal offences in several criminal jurisdictions around the world. The title is used mainly in jurisdictions that are or have been members o ...

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* 1872 births 1923 deaths Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of Lincoln's Inn UK MPs 1922–1923 Members of London County Council Progressive Party (London) politicians British King's Counsel People educated at The Oratory School Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge {{England-Labour-UK-MP-stub

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