Sir Matthew Decker, 1st Baronet

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", 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 (and retired from thence into Holland on account of their religion, during the Cruel Persecution of the Duke of Alva Governour of the Spanish Netherlands, in ye time of Queen Elizabeth)". 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.