The son of a missionary based at Kaitaia, Richard Matthews received his education alongside the only two other white children growing up there in the mid-1800s. He showed an interest in natural history, but wished to be ordained like his father, a deacon, and his scientific leanings were not fostered. He married Clarissa Dunn in 1860 and made a living keeping cattle on a package of 1,700 acres bordering the Awanui River, granted to his father. He also ran a post office, and dabbled in gold mining and flax milling, as well as undertaking building projects.

Matthews was 58 years old when he met the teacher and amateur botanist Harry Carse, and began his botanical collections. The pair collected plants together, but Carse moved away from Kaitaia for three years from 1898 and their meetings were then confined to the summer holidays. In 1901 they went to the Bald Hills and Waikato River together, and Carse then moved back to the vicinity of Kaitaia. In 1896 Matthews struck up a correspondence with T.F. Cheeseman, to whom he sent specimens for identification. The Auckland botanist honoured him in the species names Corysanthes matthewsii Cheeseman and Thelymitra matthewsii Cheeseman. Matthews latterly concentrated on orchids. His eldest son, Henry Blencowe Matthews, inherited his father's interest in botany.

Sources:
E.J. Godley, 1995, "Biographical Notes (20): Richard Henry Matthews (1835-1912)", New Zealand Botanical Society Newsletter, 42(December): 17-19
1902, "Mr Richard Henry Matthews", The Cyclopedia of New Zealand (Auckland Provincial District):
http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-Cyc02Cycl-t1-body1-d2-d37-d3.html, accessed 24 June 2010.