Henry Matthews, 1st Viscount Llandaff, (13 January 1826 – 3 April 1913) was a British lawyer and

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

politician. He is best remembered for his role in the 1885

Sir Charles Dilke Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, 2nd Baronet, PC (4 September 1843 – 26 January 1911) was an English Liberal and Radical politician. A republican in the early 1870s, he later became a leader in the radical challenge to Whig control of the Libe ...

divorce trial and for his tenure as

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from 1886 to 1892.

Background and education

The member of an old

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouths ...

family, Matthews was born in

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, where his father, Henry Matthews (1789–1828), was a puisne judge of the Supreme Court. His grandfather John Matthews had represented

in Parliament in the early years of the 19th century. His mother was Emma (d. 1861), daughter of William Blount. Matthews was educated at the

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, graduating in 1844, before going on to study at the

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, from which he graduated successively BA and LLB.

Legal career

Matthews was

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, in 1850 and practised on the Oxford circuit before becoming secretary to the

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in 1864, a position he held for five years. He was made a

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in 1868. At the bar, Matthews made a good name for himself, being especially noted for examination of witnesses. Most famous was his 1885 cross examination of

in a sensational divorce case, which essentially destroyed Dilke's political career and launched that of Matthews.

Political career

In 1868 Matthews was elected

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for

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. He described himself as an 'Independent Liberal and Conservative'. He was a

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and supported the

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of the

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and was vaguely sympathetic to the Home Rule movement, but this could not prevent his defeat by a Home Rule candidate in the 1874 General Election. He then revised his views on politics and revived his political career as a Conservative in Britain, but in the circumstances of the struggle over Gladstone's Home Rule Bill, his previous position meant that he was distrusted by strong Unionists. He returned to

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as Conservative member for Birmingham East in 1886, and was immediately appointed as

in Lord Salisbury's second government.

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reportedly demanded his inclusion after his performance in the Sir Charles Dilke divorce trial, which she approved of. He was sworn of the Privy Council at the same time. Matthews' tenure of the office was notable more for its administrative success than for political achievement. He was thought 'too clever' and his aloof and 'somewhat foreign' manner made it difficult for him to command the House of Commons. In 1887, he gave a seemingly flippant response in the House to a genuine question about the mistaken arrest of Miss Cass, who was accused of prostitution, which resulted in the government's defeat on the issue. Despite his personal opposition to

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Matthews was criticised for allowing Israel Lipski to hang. He was Home Secretary throughout the Whitechapel Murders of 1888 to 1891, some of which are attributed to

Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer w ...

. Matthews continued as Home Secretary until the Liberals returned to power in 1892. When the Conservatives took power again in 1895, Victoria was again keen for him to take office but opposition within the Conservative Party prevented it. Instead he was ennobled as Viscount Llandaff of Hereford in the County of Hereford. He was closely associated with the campaign which resulted in the building of

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Personal life

Matthews inherited property from several relatives, which left him financially independent. Indeed, upon his death his estate was valued at almost £260,000. He died unmarried in 1913 at the age of 87 at his

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

home and was buried at Clehonger, Herefordshire, near Belmont Abbey. The viscountcy died with him.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Llandaff, Henry Matthews, 1st Viscount 1826 births 1913 deaths British Secretaries of State Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Alumni of the University of London Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Irish Conservative Party MPs Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs who were granted peerages Sri Lankan people of English descent People of British Ceylon Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Waterford constituencies (1801–1922) Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria