Sir Charles Willie Mathews, 1st Baronet

Sir Charles Willie Mathews, 1st Baronet, more commonly known as Willie Mathews (16 October 1850 – 6 June 1920) was a British lawyer.

He was born Charles Willie West in New York City, the son of actress Lizzie Weston and her husband William West. Lizzie Weston married, as her third husband, Charles James Mathews in 1857. Charles Willie assumed his stepfather's surname by deed poll.

He was educated at Eton College, and after spending three years in Europe he joined the chambers of Montagu Williams as a pupil aged about twenty-one. In 1886, Williams retired as junior counsel to HM Treasury. The post was split into two and Mathews was appointed to one of the vacant offices. Two years later he was promoted to senior counsel, and in the same year he married Lucy Sloper but they had no children.

Mathews appeared in several infamous cases, including "R. v. Dudley and Stephens", Oscar Wilde's suit for libel against John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry and Lord Colin Campbell's divorce proceedings. He prosecuted the Jameson Raiders, Arthur Alfred Lynch, and Louise Masset, who murdered her own son at Dalston Junction railway station. Mathews was famous for his courtroom flare and aggressive advocacy.

Mathews was very sociable; he was a member of the Turf, Garrick, and Beefsteak Clubs, and was a friend of King Edward VII and King George V. In the United Kingdom general election, 1892, he was the Liberal candidate for Winchester, but was not returned. The following year, he was appointed recorder of Salisbury. He was knighted in 1907, and was Director of Public Prosecutions from 1908 until his death, despite ill health. He was created a baronet in 1917.

References

Lentin, A. (2004). [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/34935 "Mathews , Sir Charles Willie, baronet (1850–1920)"] , "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", Oxford University Press. Accessed 15 July 2008. (Subscription required)