Matthew Decker
Sir Matthew Decker, 1st Baronet of Richmond Green in Surrey, was a Dutch-born English merchant and economist who served as a Member of Parliament for Bishop's Castle in Shropshire from 1719 to 1722. He was a governor of the South Sea Company from 1711 to 1712, and a Director of the East India Company from 1713 to 1743. His published works which show him as "such a strong supporter of the doctrine of free trade as to rank as one of the most important forerunners of Adam Smith", proposed amongst other measures, to abolish customs duties and replace them with a tax upon houses, to abolish the duty on tea replacing it with a licence duty on households wishing to consume it, and to repeal import duties and bounties in general. At his house in Richmond he amassed a large collection of art, including many Dutch paintings, which later formed the core of the collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum, founded by his grandson. He was a pioneer in the growing of exotic fruits in England, including pineapple and lemon, in his heated greenhouses at Richmond.
Origins
Decker was born in 1679 in Amsterdam, the son of Dirck Decker of the City of Amsterdam, by his wife Katherina. Dirck was born in 1642/4 probably at Bloemendaal, near Haarlem, a son of Cornelius Decker, a linen bleacher at Bloemendaal. The portrait at the FitzWilliam of Dirck on horseback in sand dunes with the Grote Kerk, Haarlem in the background may also be a view of Cornelius's bleaching-grounds.The herald Sir John Vanburgh in his 1716 confirmation of arms to Sir Matthew stated that
Dirck was a "son of Cornelius Decker of Haerlem in the Province of Holland, and other his ancestors who were natives of Flanders ".
Career
He was educated in Amsterdam and received his commercial education there under burgomaster Velters. By 1702, aged 23, he had moved to the City of London where he established himself as a merchant specialising in linen. He was remarkably successful in his business life, gaining great wealth and honours. By 1710 he had become a major player in Anglo-Dutch commerce and had become the London correspondent for several Dutch banks, most notably Pels of Amsterdam. He was one of the original directors of the South Sea Company from 1711 to 1712, and subscribed £49,271 for shares. However after that year his interest turned instead to East India Company, of which he became a director 1713, remaining until 1743. On 20 July 1716 he was created a baronet, "of the City of London", by King George I.He had worked for James Brydges when the latter was in the Low Countries serving as Paymaster of the Forces during the War of the Spanish Succession and in 1719 with his help was returned unopposed as a Member of Parliament for Bishop's Castle in Shropshire at a by-election on 17 December 1719. Chandos was a client of his for whom he bought paintings and tapestries in the Netherlands. In 1720 Decker was Assistant of the Royal African Company and became Deputy Governor of the East India Company, until 1721. He told Chandos in 1721 that he had had enough of Parliament, and did not stand in the 1722 general election.
Following the disaster of the South Sea Bubble, in the management of which company he had had no involvement for several years, in December 1720 Decker delivered a "gererous speech" in the Court of Directors of the East India Company in support of Walpole's proposed scheme for restoring public credit, namely of "ingrafting" 9 million South Sea stock into the Bank of England and a similar amount into the East India Company, of which he was then a director. Decker's speech was reported contemporaneously as follows:
Decker was Governor of the East India Company from 1725 to 1726 and was its chairman in 1725. He was selected to be Sheriff of Surrey in 1729. Also in 1729 he was Deputy Governor of the East India Company again, Governor from 1730 to 1733 and Chairman from 1730 to 1732.
Residence in Richmond
His mansion house and estate stood on the site of today's "Pembroke Villas" 5 pairs of large semi-detached Victorian villas on the north-western side of Richmond Green, adjacent to the site of Richmond Palace, demolished during the Commonwealth. The house was first built by Sir Charles Hedges, Secretary of State to Queen Anne, from whom Decker acquired it. It later became the property of Decker's grandson Richard FitzWilliam, 7th Viscount FitzWilliam who named it "FitzWilliam House" and there formed his famous art collection and by his will founded the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. The latter's heir was his cousin George Herbert, 11th Earl of Pembroke, who renamed the house "Pembroke House". It was demolished in 1840.John Macky in his Journey through England, described the Decker estate at Richmond as follows:
Pineapple pioneer
A 1720 painting of Sir Matthew Decker's prize English-ripened pineapple, by Theodorus Netscher, survives in the FitzWilliam Museum, on which is inscribed in Latin: To the perpetual memory of Matthew Decker, Baronet, and Theodore Netscher, Gentleman. This pineapple, deemed worthy of the royal table, grew at Richmond at the cost of the former, and still seems to grow by the art of the latter. H Watkins set up this inscription, A.D. 1720. This appears to indicate that Decker served a pineapple to King George I.Richard Bradley in his General treatise of husbandry and gardening for the month of July described the pineapple enterprise on the estate as follows:
The Fitzwilliam Museum states: "Pineapples have long welcomed visitors to the Fitzwilliam Museum. Spiky green railings bookended with life-size gilded pineapples adorn the museum's balustrade...In recognition of its unique place in pineapple history, the Fitzwilliam Museum commissioned Bompas & Parr to create a giant ‘Architectonic Pineapple’ to grace its front lawn. And in February 2020, the curators will further explore the fruit’s journey from luxury to every day food in a conference dedicated to pineapples".
Marriage and children
At some time before 1711 he married Henrietta Watkins, one of the 16 children of Rev. Richard Watkins, Rector of Whichford in Warwickshire by his wife Elizabeth Hyckes whose separate mural monument survives in Whichford Church. Henrietta's brother was Henry Watkins an army administrator and diplomat who served briefly as a Member of Parliament for Brackley in Northamptonshire, and who spent much time in the Low Countries and The Hague, described as a "dedicated servant and admirer" of the Duke of Marlborough. By his wife he had issue one son and three daughters as follows:- A son who died young;
- Catherine Decker, who married Richard FitzWilliam, 6th Viscount FitzWilliam, and had issue Richard FitzWilliam, 7th Viscount FitzWilliam of Mount Merrion, Dublin, Ireland, who inherited the Decker mansion and art collection at Richmond, but died without legitimate issue; by his will founded the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.
- Henrietta Anne Decker, who married John Talbot, a judge and MP, but had no issue.
- Mary Decker, wife of William Croftes of West Harling in Norfolk and of Little Saxham in Suffolk and mother of Richard Croftes, MP.
Publications
Death and legacy
Decker died on 18 March 1749, without a surviving male heir and the baronetcy became extinct. He was buried at the Church of St Mary Magdalene, Richmond, where survives his monument against the external wall of the church, in the form of a broad-based obelisk topped by an urn, atop an antique Roman sarcophagus standing on a chest tomb base. A modern inscription on a tablet of stone superimposed on the base of the monument is as follows:His fortune and estates passed to his surviving daughter Catherine, and then to her son Richard FitzWilliam, 7th Viscount FitzWilliam.