Alexander Matheson, merchant and developer, was born in Mayfair, London, on 6 February 1861, the eldest son of Sir Alexander Matheson, a Member of Parliament who was created a Baronet in 1882, and his third wife, Eleanor, née Perceval. Eleanor was a granddaughter of Spencer Perceval, the British Prime Minister assassinated in the lobby of the House of Commons in 1812. The young Alexander was educated at Harrow and before embarking on a career spent two years travelling, in the course of which he met Eleanor Money, the daughter of an English clergyman. The couple married at New Gisborne, near Bendigo in Victoria, on 18 October 1884.
Sir John Forrest appointed him one of Western Australia's representatives on the Federal Council of Australasia. Matheson was an enthusiastic federalist who in 1900 became president of the Eastern Goldfields Reform League, a body which actively campaigned for separation of the goldfields from Western Australia so that this area might become part of the emerging Australian Commonwealth even if the colony as a whole did not. In 1899, he became a member of the joint select committee which examined the Constitution Bill as drafted by the 1898 federal convention. Matheson, an executive committee member of the West Australian Federal League, gave a paper in 1899 to the Fremantle Literary Institute on Federation as it affected Western Australia.
On becoming a parliamentarian, Matheson was joined in Perth by his wife and children—probably in 1899. They lived in style and became members of the Government House set. Now a developer, in 1896 he had purchased much of the land which today makes up the Perth suburb of Applecross, subsequently subdividing and selling off three-quarters of it. A number of Applecross street names commemorate his Scots heritage, the site of his family home being now known as Matheson Road.
The later part of Matheson's life was in many ways unhappy. All three of his sons were killed in action in World War I; unsuccessful speculation ended his business career; and his marriage broke up, probably terminating in divorce in 1925. Shortly after succeeding to the baronetcy in 1920, he moved to New Zealand.
When plans to marry again in Wellington fell through, he relocated to Monaco in 1927, but died on 6 August 1929 in a London nursing home. His four daughters, Margaret Anna (Nancy), Norah, Muriel and Eleanor, survived him.
Sir John Forrest appointed him one of Western Australia's representatives on the Federal Council of Australasia. Matheson was an enthusiastic federalist who in 1900 became president of the Eastern Goldfields Reform League, a body which actively campaigned for separation of the goldfields from Western Australia so that this area might become part of the emerging Australian Commonwealth even if the colony as a whole did not. In 1899, he became a member of the joint select committee which examined the Constitution Bill as drafted by the 1898 federal convention. Matheson, an executive committee member of the West Australian Federal League, gave a paper in 1899 to the Fremantle Literary Institute on Federation as it affected Western Australia.
On becoming a parliamentarian, Matheson was joined in Perth by his wife and children—probably in 1899. They lived in style and became members of the Government House set. Now a developer, in 1896 he had purchased much of the land which today makes up the Perth suburb of Applecross, subsequently subdividing and selling off three-quarters of it. A number of Applecross street names commemorate his Scots heritage, the site of his family home being now known as Matheson Road.
The later part of Matheson's life was in many ways unhappy. All three of his sons were killed in action in World War I; unsuccessful speculation ended his business career; and his marriage broke up, probably terminating in divorce in 1925. Shortly after succeeding to the baronetcy in 1920, he moved to New Zealand.
When plans to marry again in Wellington fell through, he relocated to Monaco in 1927, but died on 6 August 1929 in a London nursing home. His four daughters, Margaret Anna (Nancy), Norah, Muriel and Eleanor, survived him.
Alexander Matheson, merchant and developer, was born in Mayfair, London, on 6 February 1861, the eldest son of Sir Alexander Matheson, a Member of Parliament who was created a Baronet in 1882, and his third wife, Eleanor, née Perceval. Eleanor was a granddaughter of Spencer Perceval, the British Prime Minister assassinated in the lobby of the House of Commons in 1812. The young Alexander was educated at Harrow and before embarking on a career spent two years travelling, in the course of which he met Eleanor Money, the daughter of an English clergyman. The couple married at New Gisborne, near Bendigo in Victoria, on 18 October 1884.
Sir John Forrest appointed him one of Western Australia's representatives on the Federal Council of Australasia. Matheson was an enthusiastic federalist who in 1900 became president of the Eastern Goldfields Reform League, a body which actively campaigned for separation of the goldfields from Western Australia so that this area might become part of the emerging Australian Commonwealth even if the colony as a whole did not. In 1899, he became a member of the joint select committee which examined the Constitution Bill as drafted by the 1898 federal convention. Matheson, an executive committee member of the West Australian Federal League, gave a paper in 1899 to the Fremantle Literary Institute on Federation as it affected Western Australia.
On becoming a parliamentarian, Matheson was joined in Perth by his wife and children—probably in 1899. They lived in style and became members of the Government House set. Now a developer, in 1896 he had purchased much of the land which today makes up the Perth suburb of Applecross, subsequently subdividing and selling off three-quarters of it. A number of Applecross street names commemorate his Scots heritage, the site of his family home being now known as Matheson Road.
The later part of Matheson's life was in many ways unhappy. All three of his sons were killed in action in World War I; unsuccessful speculation ended his business career; and his marriage broke up, probably terminating in divorce in 1925. Shortly after succeeding to the baronetcy in 1920, he moved to New Zealand.
When plans to marry again in Wellington fell through, he relocated to Monaco in 1927, but died on 6 August 1929 in a London nursing home. His four daughters, Margaret Anna (Nancy), Norah, Muriel and Eleanor, survived him.
Sir John Forrest appointed him one of Western Australia's representatives on the Federal Council of Australasia. Matheson was an enthusiastic federalist who in 1900 became president of the Eastern Goldfields Reform League, a body which actively campaigned for separation of the goldfields from Western Australia so that this area might become part of the emerging Australian Commonwealth even if the colony as a whole did not. In 1899, he became a member of the joint select committee which examined the Constitution Bill as drafted by the 1898 federal convention. Matheson, an executive committee member of the West Australian Federal League, gave a paper in 1899 to the Fremantle Literary Institute on Federation as it affected Western Australia.
On becoming a parliamentarian, Matheson was joined in Perth by his wife and children—probably in 1899. They lived in style and became members of the Government House set. Now a developer, in 1896 he had purchased much of the land which today makes up the Perth suburb of Applecross, subsequently subdividing and selling off three-quarters of it. A number of Applecross street names commemorate his Scots heritage, the site of his family home being now known as Matheson Road.
The later part of Matheson's life was in many ways unhappy. All three of his sons were killed in action in World War I; unsuccessful speculation ended his business career; and his marriage broke up, probably terminating in divorce in 1925. Shortly after succeeding to the baronetcy in 1920, he moved to New Zealand.
When plans to marry again in Wellington fell through, he relocated to Monaco in 1927, but died on 6 August 1929 in a London nursing home. His four daughters, Margaret Anna (Nancy), Norah, Muriel and Eleanor, survived him.
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