Matthew was the son of the benefactor
Frances and
Tobias Matthew, then
Dean of Christ Church, later
Bishop of Durham, and finally
Archbishop of York, by his marriage to Frances, a daughter of
William Barlow,
Bishop of Chichester. Matthew matriculated from Christ Church on 13 March 1589/90 where he began his close friendship with
Francis Bacon. Two years later, Matthew was elected as
Member of Parliament for
Newport, in Cornwall. During this time, he was a frequent visitor to the court of
Elizabeth I. In 1604, shortly after the accession of
James I, Matthew was elected again to the
House of Commons, this time by
St Alban's (succeeding Bacon), and joined James's court. He also received a large grant from
the Crown which provided for his future. Having always desired to travel, Matthew left
England in November 1604 and travelled through
France to
Florence, even though he had promised his father he would not go to
Italy. In 1617, James allowed Matthew to return to England and he stayed for some time with Bacon. During this time he wrote an introduction to the Italian translation of his friend's
Essays. Matthew was exiled again from 1619 to 1622 for refusing to take the oath of allegiance, he laboured diligently for the Roman Catholic cause there. At the time of
Anne Blount, Countess of Newport's conversion to his faith (which was considered scandalous), he was falsely accused of converting her, but others had actually assisted her. Matthew absented himself from the court. When his father died in 1628 he left all his wealth to his wife Frances and when she died in 1629 she left Tobie a single diamond ring and the rest went in a large number of cash bequests and shares to her grandchildren, nieces and nephews. After the
Civil War broke out in 1640, Matthew was again falsely accused. By now in his sixties, he left England for the last time in 1641. that was later published in 1931. He died at the English College in Ghent, and was buried there. ==Works==