Patrick Matthew - Life

Life

Patrick Matthew was born 20 October 1790 at Rome, a farm held by his father John Matthew near Scone Palace, in Perthshire. His Mother was Agnes Duncan, stated to belong to the family of Admiral Duncan, the ancestor to the Earls of Camperdown.

On his father's death and while only seventeen, he took over the management of Gourdiehill in the Carse of Gowrie, between Perth and Dundee. He inherited Gourdiehill through his mother, in the possession of whose family it had been for more than two hundred years. He was educated at Perth Academy and the University of Edinburgh, though he did not graduate, as he had to take over the responsibilities of managing and running the affairs of a somewhat modest but significant property estate. Over the years he would successfully nurture, cultivate, and transform much of the estate's farmland and pastures into several large orchards of apple and pear trees, numbering over 10,000. He became an avid proponent as well as interested researcher of both siviculture and horticulture, both of which influenced his growing awareness of the forces of nature. This awareness, along with his own experiences acquired from years of working his own modest estate would later frame a strong base of reference to form his own opinions and theories.

In 1807, Matthew returned to manage the family estate. Between 1807 and 1831 ( 1831 being the year of publication on the subject of Naval Timber) he periodically traveled to Europe, sometimes seeking scientific enlightenment or agricultural or economic advice, as well as attending to business matters. Some of his encounters with noted men of science came during these travels, especially in France. Later, between 1840 and 1850, he traveled more extensively in what is now northern Germany. It was during these travels, especially to the Hamburg area that are significant to be noted and understood. Hamburg was a significant thriving center of trade, having direct ocean access to the North Atlantic. Matthew recognized this and proceeded to research what he deemed to be gainful opportunities. The political settings of the Prussian Empire era in regards to the Region of Schleswig-Holstein were something that Patrick Matthew was and became even more well aware of. It was after much research, of the regional market dynamics and trade parameters present, along with the bustling river port facilities and farmlands surrounding Hamburg, that brought him to settle on the purchase of two farms in Schleswig-Holstein.

Matthew married Christina Nicol in 1817 and had three daughters and five sons, one of whom took over the German farmland estates in Schleswig-Holstein. Three other sons sailed off to the gold fields of California. His children, in order of birth, were: 1) John... Born 1818; 2) Robert... Born 1820; 3) Alexander...Born 1821; 4) Charles...Born 1824; 5) Euphemia...Born 1826; 6) Agnes...Born 1828; 7) James Edward...Born 1830; and 8) Helen Amelia...Born 1833.

By this time Patrick Matthew, prospering from his estate in Scotland, as well in his investment holdings in the Hamburg area, was entering into a Land Company interest in Australia and New Zealand. He encouraged two of the 3 sons in America to go to that region and to purchase as much property as they could, and James and Charles Matthew emigrated to New Zealand.

The other son in America, John Matthew, continued until 1853 to send botanical tree specimens back home to his father in Scotland. Most notably seedling stock of both the Giant Redwood (Sequoiadendron giganteum) and the Coastal Redwood (Sequoia semperiverens) respectively. The first seedlings of these two species known to be the first planted outside their native California are a collective group still statuesquely thriving near Inchtures in Perthsire. Matthew gave many more seedlings to friends, relatives and neighbors. Many more of those original trees can be found throughout the Carse of Gowrie as well as other locations throughout Scotland, such as Stirlingshire at Gillies hill beneath the fortress of Stirling Castle. Those Redwoods are strongly believed to have been planted from the same 1853 seedling stock as those from the Inchtures group.