 Mathews was born at <unk> on Madeira on 7 March 1850 . His father , Captain William Matthews was Welsh , and his mother Jane Wallis Penfold , was the daughter of William Penfold and Sarah Gilbert . Her sister , Augusta Jane <unk> née Penfold was the author of a famous book about the flora and fauna of Madeira , which is now in the Natural History Museum . Mathews became a cadet of the Royal Navy in 1863 and was appointed a <unk> on 23 September 1866 . From 1868 he was stationed in the Mediterranean but his first active service was during the Third Anglo @-@ <unk> War of 1873 – 4 where he qualified for the campaign medal . He was promoted to lieutenant on 31 March 1874 . On 27 August 1875 Mathews was posted to HMS London , a depot ship and the Royal Navy headquarters for East Africa , to assist in the suppression of the slave trade in the area . Whilst <unk> he drilled his own troops , captured several slave <unk> and was commended for his actions by the Admiralty . 
