Henry Matthews, 1st Viscount Llandaff
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The Right Honourable The Viscount Llandaff PC QC |
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|---|---|
Lord Llandaff, circa 1890
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| Home Secretary | |
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In office 3 August 1886 – 15 August 1892 |
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| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | The Marquess of Salisbury |
| Preceded by | Hugh Childers |
| Succeeded by | H. H. Asquith |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
13 January 1826 Ceylon |
| Died | 3 April 1913 (aged 87) London |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Alma mater | University of London |
Henry Matthews, 1st Viscount Llandaff PC, QC (13 January 1826 – 3 April 1913) was a British lawyer and Conservative politician. 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.
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.
Matthews was called to the Bar, Lincoln's Inn, in 1850 and practised on the Oxford circuit before becoming secretary to the Earl Marshal in 1864, a position he held for five years. He was made a Queen's Counsel 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 Sir Charles Dilke in a sensational divorce case, which essentially destroyed Dilke's political career and launched that of Matthews.
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