Botanist (1871-1949).
Joseph William "Jimmy" Mathews (7 April 1871 - 23 September 1949) was a horticulturist and gardener from England who served as the first curator of the Kirstenbosch national botanical garden in Cape Town, South Africa. Mathews was born in Bunbury, Cheshire to Robert Mathews and Mary Elizabeth. He trained in horticulture at the Kew botanical gardens and went to work in the Cape Town public gardens in 1895. In 1913, the botanical garden at Kirstenbosch was established and Mathews was appointed the curator under the directorship of Professor H.H.W. Pearson. Mathew cultivated and encouraged the u