From Australia’s Jewish Past: The Right Honourable Sir Matthew Nathan – an extraordinary life as a Colonial Officer
Matthew was born on 3 January 1862 in Paddington, London.
Sir Matthew Nathan
He was the second son of Jewish parents – Jonah Nathan, a businessman, and his second wife, Miriam. His brothers were Colonel Sir Frederick Nathan, an officer of the Royal Artillery and Sir Nathaniel Nathan, a colonial judge in Trinidad and Tobago. Matthew had private tuition in his earlier years and then went on to study, with distinction, at the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich. In 1882 he left the School of Military Engineering in Chatham as a lieutenant in the Royal Engineers. Between 1883 and 1898, he served in Sierra Leone, Egypt, India and Burma. From 1895, he was Secretary of the Colonial Defence Committee and later promoted in 1898 to the rank of major.
Nathan then took on a life of colonial office appointments in many different countries, including Governor of the Gold Coast Queensland from 1900 to 1904 and Hong Kong from 1904 to 1907. While in Hong Kong, Matthew used his engineering background to establish a central urban planning and reconstruction policy. He built a major thoroughfare in the marshy area of the Kowloon Peninsula – known at the time as ‘’Nathan’s Folly”. He was later developed into a major shopping avenue, to be known as Nathan Road. His last position as a governor was in Natal from 1907 to 1909.
Mathew was appointed a C.M.G. (Order of St Michael and St George) in 1899, followed by a K.C.M.G. (Companion) in 1902 and then a K.C.M.G. (Knight Commander) in 1908. He was also promoted to Lieutenant-Colonial in the same year. He had, however, fallen out of favour with the Colonial Office and went on to become the Secretary of the British Post Office in 1909 as well as Secretary of the Board of Inland Revenue in 1911 and then moving on to take up the position of Under-Secretary for Ireland in 1914.
Matthew was blamed for failing to detect the signs of the impending revolution in 1916, as he reassured his chief as late as 14 April that ‘all was well in Ireland’. He resigned two days after the Easter rising. Next came his position of First Secretary of the Ministry of Pensions in 1917, but was removed from that position by Lloyd George. His next role was First Secretary of the High Wages for Women Commission. Nathan never married, although he did conduct discrete “affairs’ with many others, including Constance Spry – a well-known British educator and author of books on cooking and flower arranging.
In June 1920, Nathan accepted the opportunity of the Governorship of Queensland, succeeding Sir Hamilton Goold-Adams, and commenced office on 3 December that year. After some early difficulties, he established a reasonable working relationship with Edward Theodore – the then Premier. It appeared that Premier Theodore had failed to persuade the Colonial Office to appoint an Australian Governor. Fortunately, Matthew’s term was relatively free of political crises, although he was petitioned to recommend the refusal of Royal Assent to the Bill to abolish Queensland’s Legislative Council. He was convinced there was an absence of ‘any very strong or widespread feeling in the country against this assent’ and recommended the Bill on 1 December 1921.
Premier Theodore was most determined to implement Labor policy, which was not what Matthew would have agreed to. The result actually placed Matthew in a position of sympathy with the Senior Judiciary which would be affected by the Judges’ Retirement Bill, as well as the constitutional position of refusing to refer the Bill for Royal Assent. Relations were also somewhat strained by the Premier’s legislation for proxy voting in the Legislative Assembly. Disapproving of Premier Theodore’s manipulation of the constitution, Matthew suspected that his next move would be an attempt to abolish governorships and in December 1921, this was denied by Premier Theodore. Nathan suspected that his next move would be an attempt to abolish governorships, but this was certainly denied at the time.
Despite a slight decline in health, Matthew travelled extensively within Queensland, visited the southern States in 1922, and spoke freely and willingly at length on public occasions. It appears that Matthew gained general public approval despite the earlier reservations of those Irish Catholics who retained painful memories of 1916 when the nationalists launched an armed revolt against British rule in Ireland. This rising was a seminal moment in modern Irish history, helping to pave the way to the Nation’s independence in 1922. Matthew was appointed Under-Secretary for Ireland in late 1914, shortly after the commencement of World War 1. His immediate superior was the Chief Secretary, Augustine Birrell, who spent much of his time in London, where he was a member of the Cabinet. This meant that the Under-Secretary was effectively the head of the administration of Ireland. It was on Easter Monday, while he was in his office in Dublin Castle, that the Easter Rising broke out, and Dublin Castle itself was attacked. The Rising came to an end on 30 April. The same day, Augustine Birrell offered his resignation, and on 3 May, at Birrell’s request, Matthew also resigned. The Royal Commission on the 1916 Rebellion was critical of both men, in particular their failure to take action against the rebels in the weeks and months before the Rising.
Matthew’s job involved liaising with the Irish Parliamentary Party to prepare them for self-government. He was also concerned with the recruiting in Ireland. He received regular reports from the police and military about anti-recruiting and pro-independence activity, including the threat of a German invasion or arms landing.
After his resignation, Matthew was appointed secretary to the Ministry of Pensions, a position he held until 1919. In 1920 he was appointed Governor of Queensland and served that position until 1925. It was to be his last post in the Colonial Service. During his tenure, Nathan actively promoted British migration to Queensland.
Matthew actively supported the Boy Scout and Girl Guide movements. He was most interested in the Great Barrier Reef, local history, and the origin of place names in Queensland. He was appointed Chancellor of the University of Queensland from 1922 to 1926 and was awarded an honorary law degree in 1925. He had been involved from 1922 in the planning, organisation and financing of the British Great Barrier Reef Expedition that would take place in 1928. He became Chairman of the Sub-Committees of the Civil Research Committee and the Economic Advisory Council. Once his appointment as Governor expired, Matthew left Queensland in 1925 to retire to his house at West Coker, Somerset and took up the position of High Sheriff of the country until 1934. He did, however, between 1927 and 1928, advise on the Ceylon Constitution.
Matthew died at his home on 18 April 1939 and was buried in the Jewish cemetery at Willesden, London. A portion of his library was donated to the John Oxley Library in Brisbane after World War II.
The AJHS acknowledges the following references in the preparation of this story:-
Australian Dictionary of Biography – Paul D Wilson; Wikipedia; University of Queensland; National Library of Australia; Royal Iris Academy
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