and resettlement. The selection was not very fortunate. As a convinced home ruler and the father-in-law of Mr. John Dillon, a leading Nationalist M.P., he was regarded with distrust by the landlords and the unionists generally. The opening day, 7 Nov., was marked by a disagreeable altercation between the chairman and Mr. (now the Right Hon. Sir) Edward Carson. Following the example of Sir John Day [q. v. Suppl. II] at Belfast, Mathew refused to allow cross-examination by counsel. Carson thereupon stigmatised the inquiry as 'a sham and a farce,' and Mathew pronounced this observation to be 'impertinent and disgraceful to the Irish bar.' Counsel were ordered to withdraw, two of the chairman's colleagues took speedy opportunity of resigning, and the landlords as a body refused to take any further part in the proceedings. The commission, however, continued to take evidence, and reported in due course; some of its recommendations bore fruit in the clauses of Mr. Wyndham's Land Purchase Act of 1903. It should be said that the lines of procedure laid down by Mathew have been consistently followed in subsequent royal commissions.
Not improbably owing to this episode Mathew was not raised to the court of appeal until 1901. In his new capacity he displayed all his old qualities of accuracy, common sense, and vigour, but he deprecated elaborate arguments and voluminous citation of authorities, the 'old umbrellas of the law,' as he used to call them. On 6 Dec. 1905 he was seized with a paralytic stroke at the Athenæum Club, and his resignation was announced on the following day. He died in London on 9 Nov. 1908, and was buried in St. Joseph's cemetery at Cork.
In many respects Mathew was a typical representative of the south of Ireland. Ready and facile of speech, he was gifted with a delightful flow of humour and a strong appreciation of the lighter side of life. An ardent radical and a devout Roman catholic, he maintained the happiest relations with many who were vehemently opposed to him in religion and politics; on circuit he was always a welcome visitor at the houses of the dignitaries of the Church of England. A man of wide reading and culture, he was a warm-hearted and faithful friend.
He married on 26 Dec. 1861 Elizabeth, daughter of Edwin Biron, vicar of Lympne near Hythe; she survived him. There were two sons and three daughters of the marriage. Of these latter the eldest, Elizabeth, married in 1895 Mr. John Dillon, M.P.; she died in 1907.
An oil painting of Mathew by Frank Holl, R.A., is in the possession of his widow. A cartoon portrait by 'Spy' appeared in 'Vanity Fair' in 1896.
[The Times, 10 Nov. 1908; Men and Women of the Time; Annual Register, 1892; Reports of Commercial Cases, by T. Mathew and M. Macnaghten, vol. i. introduction, 1895; personal knowledge.]
MATHEWS, CHARLES EDWARD (1834–1905), Alpine climber and writer, born at Kidderminster on 4 Jan. 1834, was third of six sons of Jeremiah Mathews, a Worcestershire land agent, by his wife Mary Guest. Of his five brothers, the eldest, William (1828–1901; educated at St. John's College, Cambridge, 20th wrangler 1852), was one of the leading pioneers of Alpine exploration and the largest contributor to 'Peaks, Passes, and Glaciers' (1859 and 1862); he was president of the Alpine Club 1869-71. The fourth brother, George Spencer Mathews (1836–1904, 7th wrangler in 1859 and fellow of Caius College, Cambridge), was also a noted mountaineer. Both brothers were prominent figures in municipal and social life at Birmingham.
Charles Edward was educated at King Charles I's school, Kidderminster, served his articles in Birmingham and London from 1851, and was admitted solicitor in 1856. He practised with great success in Birmingham, acted as solicitor to the Birmingham school board throughout its existence, and as clerk of the peace from 1891 till his death. He was a member of the town council from 1875 to 1881 and for nearly fifty years exerted much influence on the public and social affairs of Birmingham. One of the founders and subsequently chairman of the parliamentary committee of the Education League, he founded in 1864 the Children's Hospital, in conjunction with Dr. Thomas Pretious Heslop [q. v.], and took part for many years in its management; he set on foot the agitation which led to the reorganisation of King Edward's school, and served as a governor of the school from its reconstitution in 1878 till his death; a lifelong friend of Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, he was from 1886 one of the local leaders of the liberal unionist party.
Outside professional and civic interests, Mathews's abounding energy found its main outlet in mountaineering. He was introduced to the Alps in 1856 (Peaks, Passes and Glaciers, 1st series, ch. iv) by his brother
