23 Facts About Thomas Mathews

Thomas Mathews was a British officer of the Royal Navy, who rose to the rank of admiral.

Thomas Mathews interspersed periods spent commanding ships with time at home at the family estate in Llandaff.

Thomas Mathews distinguished himself with service with Sir George Byng at the Battle of Cape Passaro in 1718, and went on to command squadrons in the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean, before largely retiring from naval service.

Thomas Mathews returned to active service in 1741, following Britain's entry to the War of the Austrian Succession, and took command of the fleet in the Mediterranean.

Thomas Mathews was tried and convicted of the charges, and dismissed from the navy.

Thomas Mathews returned to his estates at Llandaff, before moving to London and dying there in 1751.

Thomas Mathews was born at Llandaff Court, Llandaff, the son of Colonel Edward Mathews, and grandson on his mother's side of Sir Thomas Armstrong.

Thomas Mathews was a descendant of the Welsh knight Sir David ap Mathew and King Louis VI of France.

Thomas Mathews joined the fleet commanded by Rear Admiral Sir Hovenden Walker at Boston in summer 1711, after which he escorted a convoy to New York City.

Thomas Mathews then moved ashore, and spent the next few years at the family seat of Llandaff Court.

Thomas Mathews participated in the Battle of Cape Passaro in 1718, and was then detached in command of a squadron assigned to blockade Messina and hopefully intercept Vice-Admiral George Camocke, a British national serving with the Spanish navy.

Thomas Mathews returned to Britain in 1724 and thereafter largely retired from the navy, and received no further promotions.

Thomas Mathews was given a command in the Mediterranean, and made plenipotentiary to Charles Emmanuel III, king of Sardinia, and the other courts of Italy.

The appointment was somewhat unexpected, Thomas Mathews was not especially distinguished, and had not served in the navy for a number of years.

In 1742, Thomas Mathews sent a small squadron to Naples to compel King Charles, later the King of Spain, to remain neutral.

Thomas Mathews signalled for Lestock to make more sail, reluctant to start the attack with his ships still disorganised, but the slowness of Lestock to respond caused the Franco-Spanish force to start to slip away to the south.

Thomas Mathews feared that they would escape him, and pass through the Strait of Gibraltar to join the French force gathered at Brest for the planned invasion of Britain.

Thomas Mathews was tried by court-martial in 1746, on charges of having brought the fleet into action in a disorganised manner, of having fled the enemy, and of having failed to bring the enemy to action when the conditions were advantageous.

Thomas Mathews had devoted himself to work at his estate at Llandaff, and did not appear to be affected by the result of the trial.

Thomas Mathews regarded the outcome as down to factional party politics, rather than as a reflection on his conduct.

Thomas Mathews' personality was the subject of particular study during the controversy over Toulon, with his detractors claiming that he was hot-headed, intemperate, and incapable of managing the complex task of commanding a fleet in battle, which had led to the defeat.

The couple had a son, Thomas Mathews, who became a major in the army.

Henrietta died about 1740, and Thomas Mathews remarried about 1745, to Millicent Powell.