Constituency : Salisbury 1857-68
Matthew was the son of an Anglican clergyman. He was educated at Westminster and Oxford. He became a barrister but found little work in England and emigrated to Australia in 1840. He purchased some large estates there. He briefly returned to England in 1844 to get married. As a landowner he was noted for employing cheap Chinese shepherds rather than English immigrants. In 1851 he was elected unopposed to the Legislative Council for New England and Macleay where he expressed his distaste for democracy. In 1855 he returned to England and two years later was elected for Salisbury.
Matthew was re-elected in 1865 despite being on a 6 month tour of Australia at the time. He published his book Overland from Southampton to Queensland shortly after his return. Matthew followed the lead of his fellow Anglo-Australian Robert Lowe and joined the Adullamites in 1866. He cited his Australian experience as illustration of destructive democracy in action.
Matthew stepped down at Salisbury in 1868 but then unsuccessfully contested a by-election there the following year.
Matthew made his last visit to Australia in 1873.
He died in 1881 aged 70.
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