The People of Gibraltar
1860 - Matamoros and Dautez

Giolina, Cuetto and Webster - Turner, Savoureux and Esnats



Postcard of Gibraltar by Gustave Dautez taken in the late 19th century.

Manuel García Matamoros was a Spanish military man born in 1834 in Lepe, province of Huelva but who spent most of his life in Malaga. As a young man he studied at the military Academy of Toledo much influenced by his father who was a Lieutenant General of the Artillery. Later during his stint in the Seventh African Regiment he was drawn towards Protestantism but it has been suggested that he may have been influenced in this direction by a visit to Gibraltar.


Manuel García Matamoros ( 1860 - E. Nogaret)

Today he is thought of as the founder of contemporary Spanish Protestantism and has rightly been considered as a champion of religious freedom in Spain. In 1862 he was sentenced in Barcelona to nine years in jail for his ideas. The sentence was commuted to exile and he spent the rest of his life in France and in Switzerland. He died in Lausanne in1866.

During his life he amassed a large collection of photographs of people who were both friends and converts. Among these are several named individuals who were living in Gibraltar during the middle of the 19th century.

The following are a selection of these photographs.


Alfred Giolina - Gibraltar ( 1860s Gustave Dautez)


Possibly Alfred Giolina and unknown friend - Gibraltar - ( 1860s Gustave Dautez )


John Cuette - Gibraltar (1860s - Gustave Dautez)


Joseph Webster - Gibraltar ( 1860s - Gustave Dautez )


M. Turner - Gibraltar  (1860s - Gustave Dautez )


Pastor Savoureux - Gibraltar ( 1860s Gustave Dautez )


M. Esnats - Gibraltar (1860s Gustave Dautez)


Unknown Gibraltarian family - (1860s Gustave Dautez)


Unknown couple from Gibraltar


Pablo Larios 


The photographer Gustave Dautez - who took the above photos - was either a Gibraltarian or a Frenchman based in Gibraltar. He was also probably a friend of Matamoros. 


Portrait of Gustave Dautez taken by a competitor - Cavilla and Bruzon


During his lifetime he produced a series of photos of the Rock which were published by Beanland Malin (See LINK) in the form of a book called Photographic Views of Gibraltar. Much of his work was later used by the publisher to produce some well known postcards of the late 19th and early 20th century. 

He also collaborated with Jean Odon Debeaux on a book on the flora of the Rock titled Synopsis de la Flore de Gibraltar. His address is given on several references as City Mill Lane, Gibraltar



The following is a selection of his Gibraltar postcards.