David James Mathew (15 January 1902 – 12 December 1975) was a British Roman Catholic bishop and historian.

Biography

Mathew was born at

Lyme Regis Lyme Regis ( ) is a town in west Dorset, England, west of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and east of Exeter. Sometimes dubbed the "Pearl of Dorset", it lies by the English Channel at the Dorset–Devon border. It has noted fossils in cliffs and ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, and educated at the naval colleges at Osborne and Dartmouth. He served as a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest Military rank#Subordinate/student officer, rank in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Royal Cana ...

in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

at the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He entered

Balliol College Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and ar ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, in 1920 and received a degree in modern history in 1923. He then went to Beda College in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, with the intention of seeking ordination and with a plan to enter the

Carthusian The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians (), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has its own rule, called th ...

order. He was ordained in 1929, and spent 10 months as a novice at St Hugh's Charterhouse, Parkminster,

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

, before concluding that he did not have a monastic vocation. After service at St David's Cathedral, Cardiff, he went to London to become chaplain to the Roman Catholic community at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. In 1938 he was appointed

Auxiliary Bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

. He served in London through

the Blitz The Blitz (English: "flash") was a Nazi Germany, German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom, for eight months, from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941, during the Second World War. Towards the end of the Battle of Britain in 1940, a co ...

. In 1945 he was named

apostolic visitor In the Catholic Church, an apostolic visitor (or ''Apostolic Visitator''; Italian: Visitatore apostolico) is a papal representative with a transient mission to perform a canonical visitation of relatively short duration. The visitor is deputed ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

, and in 1946

apostolic delegate An apostolic nuncio (; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international organization. A nuncio is ...

to the British colonies in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. This brought his consecration to the

titular Archbishopric A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...

of Apamea. His service in Africa was successful, and he helped carry out the Vatican's policy of preparing for the appointment of native African bishops, acting as principal consecrator of

Laurean Rugambwa Laurean Rugambwa (12 July 1912 – 8 December 1997) was a Catholic Church in Tanzania, Tanzanian Catholic prelate who served as Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dar-es-Salaam, Archbishop of Dar es Salaam from 1968 to 1992. He was made a Cardinal (Ca ...

after his appointment as Apostolic Vicar of Lower Kagera: Rugambwa later became the first African cardinal since the days of the early church. Upon Mathew's return to England in 1953, he was appointed bishop-in-ordinary to the British Armed Forces. (He had refused an appointment to the nunciature in

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

, hoping to receive an English diocese). Mathew retired in 1963 and spent the rest of his life writing history. He died in London on 12 December 1975, aged 73.

Publications

*''The Celtic Peoples and Renaissance Europe'' (1933) *''The Reformation and the Contemplative Life'' (1934) *''Catholicism in England, 1535-1935. Portrait of a Minority: Its Culture and Tradition'' (1936) *''Steam Packet'' (1936) *''The Jacobean Age'' (1938) *''British Seamen'' (1943) *''The Naval Heritage'' (1944) *''Acton: The Formative Years'' (1946) *''Ethiopia: The Study of a Polity, 1540-1935'' (1947) *''The Social Structure in Caroline England'' (1948) *''Sir Tobie Mathew'' (1950) *''The Mango on the Mango Tree'' (1950) *''The Age of Charles I'' (1951) *''In Vallombrosa'' (1952) *''The Prince of Wales's Feathers'' (1953) *''Scotland under Charles I'' (1955) *''James I'' (1967) *''Lord Acton and His Times'' (1968) *''The Courtiers of Henry VIII'' (1970) *''Lady Jane Grey'' (1972)

References

*Kerr, Fergus: 'Mathew, David James (1902–1975)', rev., Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200

accessed 14 March 2008 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mathew, David 1902 births 1975 deaths Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Carthusians British naval historians 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in England Participants in the Second Vatican Council People from Lyme Regis Roman Catholic bishops of the Forces British Roman Catholic writers British military chaplains 20th-century Roman Catholic titular archbishops Royal Navy officers of World War I 20th-century English historians