Edward Alexander Frederick Theodore de Mattos

Edward de Mattos was a coal merchant and ship broker who lived with his wife, Caroline (who is buried in the same plot), and children in Hackney, Eltham, Russell Square, Chislehurst and Tunbridge Wells.

Trading as London Traders Ltd he had premises Camomile Street in the City of London, as well as the ports of Newcastle Upon Tyne (Lombard St), Cardiff (Bute Place) and Glasgow (St Vincent St).

Coal mining had been a major industry in Britain from the 16th century. There were 4 main coalfields: south Wales, southern Scotland, Lancashire and Northumberland. All produced high-quality coal and all were conveniently positioned near waterways which could transport the coal to other regions. The coal exported from Glasgow was destined for southern Europe, North America and the Middle East.

By 1860 the Tyne was Britain’s second most important river and the focal point of the Golden Age of Coal, Iron and Steam. Cardiff had become the largest town in Wales by the 1880s, its port handling more coal than any other in the world.

Potentially as part of an expansion plan, Edward bought the steamship SS Great Eastern, of which renowned engineer and promoter of bold transportation ideas, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, was the designer and superintending engineer responsible for getting the ship built.

In December 1852, Brunel had been commissioned by the Eastern Steam Navigation Company to build a steamship to carry mails to Australia and India. She was 692ft by 83ft by 58ft depth and had a speed of 14 knots. The construction was unique for the time as the ship had a double bottom.

After many delays due to the unprecedented task of building such a large ship and financial issues with the Eastern Steam Navigation Company, she was launched on January 31 1858. The vessel was originally named ‘Leviathan’ but it fell out of favour and was later changed to ‘Great Eastern’.

In 1883, de Mattos was said to have entered into a contract to buy the vessel for £40,000 but it went to litigation when he backed out. In late October 1885 the ship was auctioned again and he bought her for £26,000. His intention was to move the Great Eastern to Gibraltar to use as a coal hulk.

Louis Cohen, Managing Director of Lewis’s Emporium (a department store in Liverpool), was outbid by Edward but he approached him with a proposal to charter the ship for a year which he accepted. In late April 1886, she was moved to anchor in the Mersey to become a giant showboat, advertising billboard and amusement centre that was opened by Queen Victoria.

This was a huge success with more than 50,000 people being admitted during the first month, paying a shilling to see freak shows, visit buffet restaurants and souvenir shops, and watch a trapeze act between two of the masts of the vessel. By the end of summer the novelty had run its course and de Mattos rented the ship’s sides to a tea purveyor, later selling her as the Gibraltar hulk proposition had failed.

By 1896, Edward and Caroline had moved to ‘Hinton’, 8 Hungershall Park, Tunbridge Wells. In 1911 they were living with their daughter Mabel and 3 servants (a parlour maid, house maid and cook). Edward died there in July 1915 leaving an estate worth nearly £1.8m.