46cm (18in) x 30cm (12in) x 15cm (6in)
Black leather over wood with recessed swing handle to the hinged lid to ensure the box is locked before carrying; the lid embossed with the crowned EVIIR cypher of King Edward VII and the title Director of Public Prosecutions on the leading chamfered edge. The interior stamped with the maker’s name of H.M. Stationer, ‘WICKWAR & CO 96 JERMYN ST W’. The lock stamped Wickwar & Co. Complete with working key.
The present box relates to ‘the first real’ Director of Public Prosecutions Sir Charles Willie Mathews, 1st Bt, QC (1850-1920) - a barrister famed for his courtroom flair and aggressive advocacy. Pre-Mathews the DPP post was tied to that of Treasury Solicitor, with the incumbent taking no practical part in prosecutions. In 1908 at the recommendation of a Home Office inquiry the DPP was made independent and Mathews was given an office of his own on his appointment in the same year.
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Mathews appeared in several infamous cases, including the cannibalism case that set the precedent that necessity is not a defence to a charge of murder. He also appeared in Oscar Wilde's suit for libel against the Marquess of Queensberry and the ‘what the butler saw’ case of Lord Colin Campbell's divorce proceedings. He prosecuted the pro-imperialist Jameson Raiders; the anti-imperialist Arthur Alfred Lynch; and the murderers Louise Masset and Kitty Byron. Well-known in London society, he was a friend to both Edward VII and George V. Mathews held the post of DPP until his death in 1920.