Theobald Mathew (barrister, born 1898)
Sir Theobald Mathew,
Mathew was born in London, the son of
Mathew was called to the bar by Lincoln's Inn in 1921, but quit the bar to train as a solicitor in 1925, articling at Charles Russell & Co., whose senior partner, Sir Charles Russell, was his wife's uncle. He was admitted as a solicitor in 1928 and became a partner of Charles Russell & Co. In 1941, he joined the Home Office, and in 1942 became head of its Criminal Division.
He was appointed Director of Public Prosecutions in 1944, having been recommended to the Prime Minister by Herbert Morrison, the Home Secretary, who had been impressed by Mathew's performance. He was the first solicitor to ever hold the office. In 1946 he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
In the late 1940s to the early 1950s, he directed a sustained campaign against homosexuality. Police used agents provocateurs to lure men into criminal offences.
Family
In 1923, he married Phyllis Helen Russell, granddaughter of Charles Russell, Baron Russell of Killowen, a former Lord Chief Justice of England.
References
- ISBN 9780747579854.
- ^ The Guardian, 13 September 2000. Extract from "Bound and Gagged," by Alan Travis. Published by Profile, 2000.
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