Matthews is the eldest son of David Matthews, whose father Wallace Matthews worked in the coal industry and then a garage near
Rotherham. David Matthews was a car dealer before moving into the luxury hotel business. James' father also owns the resort
Eden Rock, St Barths, and is also
laird of a 10,000-acre Scottish estate,
Glen Affric. James' mother is Zimbabwean-born artist Jane Matthews ('''' Jane Spencer Parker). Jane Matthews was educated at London's
Slade School of Art; she is the daughter of Robert Spencer Parker, an architect. The family own the "castle-like" hunting lodge on their Scottish estate. Matthews' brother, Michael, died in 1999 in a mountaineering accident on
Mount Everest, hours after becoming the youngest Briton to conquer the peak. Matthews boarded at
Uppingham School, in Rutland. He trained as a
securities trader at
Spear, Leeds & Kellogg, now part of
Goldman Sachs. In 1997 Matthews moved to a finance house called Nordic Options Ltd, which de-merged from Spear, where he became a senior equity options trader. ==Career==