Matthew Decker

Sir Matthew Decker, portrait by Theodorus Netscher (1661-1728), Fitzwilliam Museum
Arms of Decker: Argent, a demi-buck gules between his forelegs an arrow erected in pale or, as confirmed in 1716 to Sir Matthew Decker, 1st Baronet, by Sir John Vanbrugh, Clarenceaux King of Arms, as used by his ancestors in Holland[1]
Dirck Decker, father of Sir Matthew, with the Grote Kerk, Haarlem in the background.[2] 1671 portrait by Jan Andrea Lievens, Fitzwilliam Museum. Great grandfather of the founder of the Fitzwilliam Museum
Monument to Sir Matthew Decker, 1st Baronet, Church of St Mary Magdalene, Richmond, showing the arms of Decker impaling Watkins Azure, a fess vair between three leopard's faces jessant-de-lys or

Sir Matthew Decker, 1st Baronet (1679 – 18 March 1749) (Dutch: Mattijs Decker) 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 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",[3] 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.

  1. ^ Miscellanea Genealogica Et Heraldica, Howard, Vol.4, 1892, p.289
  2. ^ Slive
  3. ^ 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Volume 7 Decker, Sir Matthew