Robert Nathaniel Matheson became head librarian at Dublin Castle in 1835 and later served almost 20 years as Chief Clerk at the castle, making him the second most senior civil servant in Ireland. Sir Robert Edwin Matheson, his son effectively ran Ireland’s General Register Office for over 30 years, orchestrating the censuses of 1881, 1891 and 1901. The playwright John Millington Synge was besotted by Sir Robert’s daughter Cherrie – she declined his marriage proposal, twice. This is the story of these Mathesons, their links to the Plymouth Brethren, Robert Louis Stevenson and the law.Â
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