 Sir Lloyd William Mathews , <unk> , CB ( 7 March 1850 – 11 October 1901 ) was a British naval officer , politician and abolitionist . Mathews joined the Royal Navy as a cadet at the age of 13 and progressed through the ranks to lieutenant . He was involved with the Third Anglo @-@ <unk> War of 1873 – 4 , afterwards being stationed in East Africa for the suppression of the slave trade . In 1877 he was seconded from the navy to Sultan Barghash of Zanzibar in order to form a European @-@ style army ; he would remain in the employment of the government of Zanzibar for the rest of his life . His army quickly reached 6 @,@ 300 men and was used in several expeditions to suppress the slave trade and rebellions against the Zanzibar government . 
