Henry matthews biography
Dictionary of National Biography, 1927 supplement/Matthews, Henry!
Henry Matthews, 1st Viscount Llandaff
English lawyer and Conservative politician
Henry Matthews, 1st Viscount Llandaff, PC, KC (13 January 1826 – 3 April 1913) was an English lawyer and Conservative politician.
Henry matthews biography
He is best remembered for his role in the 1885 Sir Charles Dilke divorce trial and for his tenure as Home Secretary from 1886 to 1892.
Background and education
The member of an old Herefordshire family, Matthews was born in Ceylon, where his father, Henry Matthews (1789–1828), was a puisne judge of the Supreme Court.
His grandfather John Matthews had represented Herefordshire 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 University of Paris, graduating in 1844, before going on to study at the University of London, from which he graduated successively BA and LLB.
Legal career
Matthews was called to the Bar, Lincoln's Inn, in 1850 and practised on the Oxford c