Known as Blen, Henry Matthews was a dairy farmer and botanist resident in the far north of New Zealand. Born at Kataia in 1861, he was probably schooled at home, there being no school in the area at that time. He married Evelyn Subritzky in 1882 but was divorced in 1891. He later wed Evelyn's sister, Elizabeth, in 1901. He had six children with his first wife. Matthews farmed at Kataia on land granted to his grandfather and for ten years from 1904 was chairman of a co-operative dairy company established in the district.

Blen Matthews became interested in botany through his father, Richard Henry Matthews, who studied plants (especially orchids) with local schoolteacher and plant collector Harry Carse. Matthews and his brothers all went out hunting for specimens with their father Henry in the early 1900s. Blen Matthews also became friends with Carse, who drew on the Matthews' work in his "Flora of Mangonui County" (1910). Pterostylis matthewsii Cheeseman was named in his honour.

Sources:
E.J. Godley, 1996, "Biographical Notes (43): Henry Blencowe Matthews (1861-1934)", New Zealand Botanical Society Newsletter, 43: 12-13.