Sir Theobald Mathew, (4 November 1898 – 29 February 1964) was a British lawyer who served as

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 ...

from 1944 to 1964, making him the longest-serving DPP. Mathew was born in London, the son of

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) ...

and

Charles James Mathew Charles James Mathew, CBE, KC (24 October 1872 – 8 January 1923) was a British barrister and Labour politician. He was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Whitechapel and St Georges in the 1922 general election, but died seven we ...

and grandson of Lord Justice Mathew. He was educated at

The Oratory School The Oratory School () is an HMC Co-educational Independent school (United Kingdom), independent Roman Catholic day and boarding school for pupils aged 11–18 located in Woodcote, north-west of Reading, Berkshire, Reading. Founded in 1859 by S ...

and

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infant ...

. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, he served with the Irish Guards, and was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC ...

in 1918. He was appointed aide-de-camp to Lieutenant-General Sir Alexander Godley in 1919. Mathew 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 1921, but quit the bar to train as a

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

in 1925, articling at Charles Russell & Co., whose senior partner, Sir Charles Russell, was his wife's uncle. He was admitted as a solicitor in 1928 and became a partner of Charles Russell & Co. In 1941, he joined the Home Office, and in 1942 became head of its Criminal Division. He was appointed Director of Public Prosecutions in 1944, having been recommended to the Prime Minister by

Herbert Morrison Herbert Stanley Morrison, Baron Morrison of Lambeth, (3 January 1888 – 6 March 1965) was a British politician who held a variety of senior positions in the UK Cabinet as member of the Labour Party. During the inter-war period, he was Minis ...

, the

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...

, who had been impressed by Mathew's performance. He was the first solicitor to ever hold the office. In 1946 he was appointed

Knight 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 ...

. In the late 1940s to the early 1950s, he directed a sustained campaign against homosexuality. Police used ''agents provocateurs'' to lure men into criminal offences. In 1960 he reluctantly authorised the prosecution of

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.obscenity An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin ''obscēnus'', ''obscaenus'', "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Such loaded language can be use ...

after they published ''

Lady Chatterley's Lover ''Lady Chatterley's Lover'' is the last novel by English author D. H. Lawrence, which was first published privately in 1928, in Italy, and in 1929, in France. An unexpurgated edition was not published openly in the United Kingdom until 1960, w ...

'' by

D.H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...

.''The Guardian'', 13 September 2000.
Extract from "Bound and Gagged," by Alan Travis. Published by Profile, 2000.

Family

In 1923, he married Phyllis Helen Russell, granddaughter of

Charles Russell, Baron Russell of Killowen Charles Arthur Russell, Baron Russell of Killowen, (10 November 1832 – 10 August 1900) was an Irish statesman of the 19th century, and Lord Chief Justice of England. He was the first Roman Catholic to serve as Lord Chief Justice since the Ref ...

, a former

Lord Chief Justice of England Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or a ...

References

Directors of Public Prosecutions (England and Wales) Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Military Cross 1898 births 1964 deaths Irish Guards officers British Army personnel of World War I People educated at The Oratory School Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst English solicitors Civil servants in the Home Office Lawyers awarded knighthoods English barristers Members of Lincoln's Inn 20th-century English lawyers {{UK-law-bio-stub