Born in the parish of Kildonan, Manitoba, the son of John and Catherine (Pritchard) Matheson, Matheson received a Bachelor of Divinity in 1879 from St. John's College, University of Manitoba, and a Doctor of Divinity degree in 1903. He was ordained a deacon in 1875 and a priest in 1876. He was Master of St. John's College and Professor of Exegetical Theology.

In 1882, he was made a Canon of St. John's Cathedral in Winnipeg and Dean of Rupert's Land in 1902. In 1905 he became Archbishop of Rupert's Land and in 1909 was elected Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada,^[1] serving until 1931. He resigned the Canadian primacy in September 1930^[2] and his diocesan See on January 31, 1931.^[3]

From 1908 to 1934, he was the 2nd Chancellor of the University of Manitoba. He founded Havergal Ladies' College in Winnipeg and was its president.

• Primates of the Anglican Church of Canada
• Metropolitans of the Ecclesiastical Province of Rupert's Land
• The story of Manitoba (Volume 2)
• Manitoba Historical Society biography
• The election of a primate: a primer^{[permanent dead link]}