#15165, Matthew GRAY

Having left his hand-loom weaving family home in Stonehouse, Dumbartonshire, Matthew Gray served an apprenticeship in marine engineering in the 1840’s. Married with a young family, he was then Manager of Calico Printing works in Bonhill Dumbartonshire. In 1863 for W.T. Henley, with John Proudfoot, he secured concessions for a submarine cable between Montevideo and Buenos Aires. 

In 1866 he was appointed Manager to the India Rubber Gutta Percha Telegraph Works Ltd, Silvertown, a post in which he continued all his working life. Importing gutta percha as insulation the Company developed and manufactured submarine telegraph cables, for which they agreed contracts to lay and maintain internationally. The ‘Works’ at Silvertown then developed rubber and electrical departments that were managed by his five sons in their turn, as well as a factory at Persan Beaumont, then Seine et Oise, France. Matthew earned his place as a ‘Founder of the Rubber Industry’ alongside Charles Macintosh, Charles Goodyear, Thomas Hancock and SW Silver.

Matthew Gray was father to six sons, though the second, William died in infancy and one daughter. Outside business, his boys' education was his principal concern. He trained them in Telegraphy, Mining, Rubber and Electrical Engineering, as well as French and Spanish. In addition to their academic success he also keenly promoted and funded their social and cultural development; he was generally respected by them for being strict but fair.

Although the family moved from Scotland to London in 1866, Matthew maintained lifelong contact with his Scottish roots. From the 1870s he kept a hunting lodge at Glenquaich, Amulree from Lord Breadalbane. Here all his family entertained colleagues and friends in the shooting season until after WW1. All that is but his wife, Agnes, who did not join them. She preferred to stay in London at that time, but otherwise would make frequent trips to Scotland to visit her family and friends.

Matthew Gray was an astute businessman, though he would take financial risks in a field where competition was fierce and dangers abounded. Sea and weather conditions could frequently hamper progress in submarine cable laying, as could illness and accident aboard the Cable Ships. However he achieved success overall, despite the problems that arose. There was a period of three months in 1889 when the Silvertown work force went on strike for higher wages and improved working conditions. His attitude then does not bear scrutiny today; the Board of Governors resolutely would not give in to the work force and starvation finally forced the strikers back to work.

Difficulties in spelling were apparent in Matthew’s correspondence; he preferred to dictate letters to his wife, or later his youngest son, William. This disability did not, however, impede him in engineering or business matters. It may have made him more sympathetic to his only daughter, Bethia, whom he adored, who was born with a marked divergent squint. No mention is made of it in the family correspondence but she always positioned herself side-view for photographs.

From his childhood, where hand-weaving earned the family a living, Matthew Gray’s final position running a successful business empire is remarkable. His drive and ambition to succeed in society as well as business was an inspiration to his family and colleagues, shining as bright as the electric lights his Company manufactured.

Nicky Hibbin