Antonio Gomes De Mattos (1829-1894)
1875 of Maylor and Co., Engineering Works, 136 Rua da Sande, Rio she Janeiro (or care of Messrs. Fry Micro and Co., 5 Great Winchester Street, London, E.C.)
1890 of 98 Rua da Sande, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
1896 of 98 Rua da Sande, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (or care of Messrs. Fry Miers and Co., Suffolk House, 5 Laurence Pountney Hill, London, E.C.)
1894 Obituary [1]
ANTONIO GOMES DE MATTOS was born at Rio de Janeiro on 3rd December 1829.
After being educated at the Naval College of Rio, where he matriculated, he entered the Brazilian navy as midshipman and saw some service, taking part in the expedition and naval engagement of Tonelero; and he attained the rank of first lieutenant.
In 1852 he was one of the officers selected by the Brazilian government to study mechanical engineering and naval construction in England, and was articled to Messrs. John Penn and Sons, Greenwich.
After serving his time he returned in 1857 to Brazil, and was appointed directing engineer of the marine arsenal at Rio. His first care was to re-organise the workshops, and to refit them with modern tools and appliances; after which he commenced the construction of marine engines and other work required for the naval service, and carried out many improvements in the dockyard.
In 1864 he retired from the government service to join the firm of Messrs. John Maylor and Co., engineers and naval constructors at Rio, and soon undertook the entire management of the works; in 1879 he became the sole proprietor under the title of Messrs. A. G. de Mattes and Co.
During the Paraguayan war he rendered important services to the government by the prompt repairs of war ships and by placing the resources of the factory at the disposal of the government for the casting of shell, shot, and other munitions of war; these services were duly recognised.
In 1890 his establishment was purchased by the Lloyd Brazileiro Co., proprietors of the mail lines of steamships and docks at Rio; for whom he became managing director of the dry docks and engineering shops for three years, until his final retirement in 1893.
During his career he undertook many important contracts for the Brazilian government, including the erection of a system of hydraulic cranes and lifts in the docks and custom house at Rio; and was actively engaged in the construction of laud and marine engines, in the repairing of steam ships for Brazilian and other navigation companies, and in the manufacture of machinery for sugar and coffee estates in the interior.
He was the author of a work on the culture of sugar cane and manufacture of sugar.
In recognition of services to his own and other governments he was created a commander of the Brazilian Order of the Rose, a chevalier of the Legion of Honour of France, and a chevalier of the Order of the Crown of Italy.
His death took place suddenly at his residence in Tijuca, near Rio, from failure of the heart, on 13th May 1894, in his sixty-fifth year.
He became a Member of this Institution in 1875.
1894 Obituary [2]
ANTONIO GOMES DE MATTOS, eldest son of Major Antonio Gomes de Mattos, was born on the 3rd of December, 1829, at Rio de Janeiro.
He was educated at the Naval College of that city where he took high honours in mathematics.
In 1847 he entered the Brazilian Navy, in which he attained the rank of a First Lieutenant. Sent to England by the Government for the purpose of studying marine and mechanical engineering, he was articled in 1852 to John Penn and Sons of Greenwich.
After having spent four years in the works of that firm he returned to Brazil and was appointed in 1857 Director of the Machinery Department of the Imperial Marine Arsenal at Rio de Janeiro, in which capacity he re-organized the workshops and designed and constructed many land and marine engines....[more]