John Hobson Matthews

John Hobson Matthews was born in Croydon in 1858, to Emma Hobson from Great Grimsby and his father from St. Ives.[1] He attended schools in Blackheath and Cambridge and worked in Malta for a short period with a shipping firm. Matthews joined the Roman Catholic church in 1877 and became a solicitor in 1889, subsequently working in Cardiff. As a keen linguist, he edited Emynau Catholig (English: 'Catholic Hymns'), translated Ffordd y Groes ('The way of the cross') and joined the Welsh Bardic Gorsedd. Matthews also edited the Cardiff Records, being materials for a history of the County Borough from the earliest times (1898-1911) and wrote a report on the Monmouthshire County Council records in 1905. He was involved in the transactions of the Cardiff Naturalists Society and, more significantly, the Catholic Record Society, being among the original members of this society.

Matthews understood Maltese, Cornish, Irish and Welsh. He married Alice Mary Gwyn-Hughes in 1892, who bore him four sons and two daughters.[1]

He died in Ealing on 23 January 1914.[1][2]

• A History of the parishes of St. Ives, Lelant, Towednack, and Zennor (London, 1892) - published by Matthews
• Martin Cock's Guide to St. Ives (St. Ives, 1906) - edited by Mathews
• Yr Hen grefydd a'r grefydd newydd. Sef dadl … am yr Eglwys Gatholig … Wedi ei gyfieithu i'r Gymraeg gan … J. H. Jones (Cardiff, 1889) - prepared by Matthews
• The Life and Memorials of Saint Teilo (Preston, 1893) - prepared by Matthews
• The Vaughans of Courtfield: a study in Welsh genealogy (London, 1912) - based on Matthews' findings

• https://biography.wales/article/s-MATH-HOB-1858

• The Tablet a weekly newspaper and review, London, 31 January 1914
• Handlist of Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales, 1940
• Cardiff Naturalists' Society: Report and Transactions, xxxiii.