Lieut J H Thomson, 6th Bde, RA

Subject: Lieut J H Thomson, 6th Bde, RA Tue Jul 05, 2011 11:57 pm

"Lieut J H Thomson, served with "M" Battery, 6th Brigade, Royal Artillery receiving the "1879" clasp. Lieut J H Thomson served with the Field Force from the date of the arrival of the Battery until the conclusion of the war. He was in command of the Mounted Gunners in Capt Yeatman-Biggs Expedition in the search for the Zulu King Cetshwayo from 17/8/1879. Thompson later Chief Inspector of Explosives & heavily involved with experimentation of smokeless gunpowders & the introduction of "cordite", a name penned by Thompson. He was awarded Companion of the Order of the Bath, Civil (CB) 28 June 1907 as Captain. Who's Who listing 1897-1916: "Thompson, Capt Jocelyn Home, CB 1907: [late] RA; HM Chief Inspector of Explosives; b Oxford, 31 Aug 1859, s of late William Thompson, DD, Archbishop of York. Educ: Eton. Entered Royal Artillery 1878; served Zulu War, 1879: India, Egypt etc; posted to Royal Horse Artillery, 1885; selected by Royal Society to observe transit of Venus at Barbados, 1882; Secretary late War Office Committee of Explosives, 1888-91; special mission to Canada in connection with cordite, 1891; appointed Inspector of Explosives, 1893. Publications: Dictionary of Explosives, Candill & Tompson, 1895; Handbook on Petroleum, Thompson & Redwood, 1901; The Petroleum Lamp, 1902; Guide to the Explosives Act, 1905." Committed suicide after nervous breakdown 13.02.1908. Together with a b/w copy of photo of Thompson in RHA full dress uniform wearing the medal, a photostat copy of his signature & much research. EF. Scarce to officer with subsequent Government postings & awarded CB."

Posts : 3326 Join date : 2009-03-03 Location : Devon

Captain Jocelyn Home Thomson, C.B., H.M. Chief Inspector of Explosives, was born in Oxford, 31st August, 1859, the son of the Right Hon. and Most Rev. William Thomson, Archbishop of York. He was educated at Eton and entered the Royal Artillery in 1878 and proceeded with M Battery, 6th Brigade, to South Africa in March, 1879. Lieutenant Thomson commanded the mounted gunners in Captain Yeatman-Biggs' expedition in search of the King in August, 1879. It proceeded up the coast as far as St. Lucia Bay, which it crossed but gleaning no tidings of the object of its pursuit, it made its way to Ulundi, which it reached on the 29th of the month. It would appear that had the coast not been thus patrolled, the King would have made for the thick forests in the neighbourhood of St. Lucia, as he had, in fact, travelled a considerable distance down the Umvolosi when he heard of the approach of the party.
Interestingly M/6 was the Battery The Prince Imperial was attached to on arrival in SA

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Source - Jagermedals

Posts : 3326 Join date : 2009-03-03 Location : Devon

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Aberdeen Journal, Saturday 15 February 1908.

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Grave, Brompton Cemetery, London, England.

Subject: Re: Lieut J H Thomson, 6th Bde, RA Sun May 12, 2013 8:22 pm

!"The Times - February 15, 1908
Report
The Death Of Captain J. H. Thomson.
At Chelsea Town-hall, yesterday, Mr. C. Luxmoore Drew, the West London Coroner, held an inquest on the body of Captain Jocelyn Home Thomson, C.B., Chief Inspector of explosives at the Home Office, who was found shot at his residence in Draycott-place, S.W., on Thursday. Captain Thomson was a son of the late Archbishop of York.

Mr. Basil Thomson, Governor of Wormwood-scrubs Prison, said that for the last six months his brother had been suffering from some nervous trouble which brought about loss of speech and memory. As far as the witness knew he had never suggested suicide. He had been living happily at home, and was a teetotaller. There was no history of insanity in the family, and there was nothing wrong with his brother, except this mental depression. His brother suffered from a weak digestion, but he had no organic complaint.

Mrs. Thomson, the widow, said her husband's physical health was not very good. Last August he had a nervous breakdown, but since then his health had improved very much. He had had no delusions of any sort, but had complained of loss of memory. He could not, he said, remember the details of his work. This worried him very much.

The Coroner. Has he ever suggested anything of this sort ?-A good many years ago; I have not heard him suggest it lately. What was that in reference to ?-I think probably overwork. He could never be called a strong man . He rarely complained of lack of sleep, but was very nervous. Have you noticed anything in his mental condition latterly to lead you to think his mind was unhinged?-Yes; certainly. Can you give us an instance? No, I do not think I can, except generally that I noticed his mind was not nearly so acute and that he had lost his interest in general things so much. Her husband was following duty at the time of death and was at the Home Office on Thursday morning. She last saw her husband about 3 30 p.m. on Thursday, when he went out. She did not know where he was going, but he said he would not be back until 9 30. He appeared to be as usual, and later she went out herself. On returning about a quarter to 10 she heard what had happened. It was, of course, a great shock, but she had been unhappy about him for some time. He would not see a doctor. He did not take drugs. His home life was quite harmonious. There had never been any symptoms sufficiently marked for her to call in a doctor.

Hetty Swailand, a servant, said that her master came in about half-past 9 on Thursday night, apparently in his usual health. He went into the smoking room and shut the door, and a few minutes after she heard shots and her master groaning. Going into the smoking room, she found him dead on the floor fully dressed. Captain Thomson had appeared cheerful.

Miss Annie Rockliff, who was staying in the house and who had known Captain Thomson for 30 years. said he had complained to her of loss of memory and general depression. He had been in bad health, and had told her he often felt disheartened. He had never mentioned suicide, except on one occasion, when he told her that when he was a young man he thought of doing away with himself. He told her last Sunday of suffering from some inward complaint, which made him sometimes almost wish he might die. The complaint seemed to be indigestion, or something similar.

Mr. Frederick Dixon, of Cheyne-court, said that he had noticed Captain Thomson's depression for some time, and thought he was not nearly so acute with regard to the details of his profession. The witness last saw him in the street about a week ago. In talking to him, it was impossible not to notice that he had some difficulty in speaking.

Captain M. B. Lloyd, Inspector of Explosives, said that normally Captain Thomson, whom he had known for about 11 years, was an extremely acute, intelligent man, but latterly his acuteness, and more particularly his quickness of thought, had considerably diminished. He had been doing rather light duty for the past four or five months. When at the Home Office on Thursday morning he seemed about the same as usual. He had a very nervous manner, and he had occasional attacks of loss of speech and marked slowness of thought which came on if the day's work had been a hard one. Beyond the mental breakdown there was no trouble. When he left the Home Office on Thursday Captain Thomson said :-" I don't know if I shall come in to-morrow, but I shall be in on Saturday."

Dr. T. W. Lumsden, of South Eaton-place, said he found Captain Thomson lying on his back, quite dead. The clothes were singed and under the chest bore bloodstains. Just above the stomach he found a bullet wound, but could discover no exit wound. He should think death was instantaneous. Having heard the evidence, he was of opinion that Captain Thomson was suffering simply from nervous breakdown, but not from organic brain disease. Such a breakdown would render a man irresponsible for a time for his actions. It was possible that Captain Thomson might have been aiming at his heart if it was intentional, but he could not say. The wound was near the heart, and a slight movement of the hand might have diverted the bullet.

Police-inspector Seymour, who found a six-chambered revolver near the body, said the room was not disordered. There was no letter or any document which might throw any light on the matter. Two of the chambers of the revolver were loaded, and a cartridge had been discharged.

The Coroner, in addressing the jury, said be had had personal knowledge of Captain Thomson, who on more than one occasion had given evidence before him. On those occasions Captain Thomson had struck him as being a man of marked ability and keen intelligence. It was clear, he thought, that he was not responsible for his actions at the time of his death. The jury returned a verdict of "Suicide whilst temporarily insane."

The Times - February 15, 1908
Obituary
Captain Jocelyn H. Thomson, who is announced, in another column, to have committed suicide on Thursday, was the second son of the late Archbishop Thomson, Archbishop of York from 1863 to 1890, and was born in 1859. He was educated at Eton and the Royal Academy, Woolwich, and entered the Royal Artillery in December, 1878. Soon after joining he served in the Zulu war of 1879 and was one of those sent in pursuit of King Cetewayo. From South Africa Captain Thomson went to India, and he also served in Egypt in the Royal Horse Artillery. His taste for scientific pursuits led him to take up the study of astronomy, and in 1881 he made a tour of an the observatories in Western Europe. In the following year he was employed by the Royal Society to observe the transit of Venus in Barbados, and in a letter written subsequently to Archbishop Thomson by Professor Stone, of Oxford, who supervised the calculations of all the observations of the transit and issued the report on them, the following remarks as to the value of Lieutenant Thomson's work were made:-“His apparent contact agrees well with the other recorded contacts of the same phase, and his egress observations when the sky was clearer are perfectly satisfactory and agree very closely with the main results from the other recorded times." Captain Thomson held various scientific appointments at Woolwich, including that of secretary to Sir F. Abel's Committee on Explosives, for whom he carried out all the first experiments on cordite. The name "cordite" was given to the explosive by Captain Thomson. From 1886 to 1902 he acted as officer of the Department of Artillery Studies, and in the last-named year was appointed second assistant to the Director-General of Ordnance Factories, a position which be held until 1893. He spent the summer of 1891 in exploring the interior of Iceland and in the autumn of that year he was sent to Canada to carry out tests as to the behaviour of cordite in a cold climate. He was appointed Inspector of Explosives under the late Sir Vivian Majendie in June, 1893, and became Chief Inspector of the Department in August, 1899. During his spare time Captain Thomson was permitted to act as consulting engineer to the Cauvery electrical transmission scheme in Mysore, which appointment he held for five years, and also to the Jhelum Valley electrical transmission and railway scheme in Kashmir. In the former case he visited India to pass the plan for the Mysore Government. Last year he was made a C.B. Captain Thomson was the author of several works on explosives. He married, in 1886, Mabel Sophia, daughter of the Rev. Thomas Bradley Paget, of Chipping Norton.

Thomson, Jocelyn Home (1859–1908), chief inspector of explosives, was born at Oxford on 31 August 1859, the second of four sons of William Thomson (1819–1890), archbishop of York, and his wife, Zoë (d. 1913), née Skene. After education at Eton College, where he won the Tomline prize for mathematics, and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, he entered the Royal Artillery in December 1878, took part in the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879, and then served as captain with the Royal Horse Artillery in India and Egypt.

An interest in science and especially in astronomy led Thomson to tour the European observatories in 1881, after which the Royal Society obtained leave for him to observe the transit of Venus from Barbados in 1882. Thomson then held various scientific appointments at Woolwich; from 1887 to 1892 he served on the staff of the department of artillery and stores, afterwards becoming an assistant to the director-general of ordnance factories. In 1886 he married Mabel Sophia, daughter of Thomas Bradley Paget, of Chipping Norton; there were no children. During 1888 he was secretary under Sir Frederick Abel to the War Office explosives committee, for whom he carried out the first experiments on a new smokeless explosive. Thomson named this new substance cordite because it was extruded by the production machinery in the form of cords. This explosive was recommended to the government in 1890 and adopted for military use in 1893. Thomson spent the winter of 1891 in Canada testing the performance of cordite under cold weather conditions. In 1893 he was appointed inspector of explosives, succeeding Sir Vivian Majendie as chief inspector in August 1899.

For five years from 1900 Thomson took leave to act as consulting engineer in India to the project to carry electrical power from the Cauvery Falls to the Mysore goldfields, for which he visited Mysore, and then advised on a similar transmission and railway project in the Jhelum valley. Thomson was a versatile mechanic; among the devices that he invented or improved were instruments for electrical telegraphy and petroleum testing apparatus. He also devised a position finder, for which the government war department awarded him £500. He wrote a number of reports and guides, both technical and popular, dealing with explosives and with the petroleum lamp. In 1901 the Belgian government conferred upon him the order of Leopold. He was made a CB in 1907. In August 1907 Thomson suffered a nervous breakdown, which left him with occasional loss of speech and marked slowness of thought, infirmities that caused him considerable distress. On 13 February 1908 he shot himself at his residence at 18 Draycott Place, Chelsea. He was buried at Brompton cemetery."

Birth: 31 August 1859

Place or Registered Place of Birth: Oxford, Oxfordshire

Baptism: Not Known

Place of Baptism: Not Known

Death: 13 February 1908

Place or Registered Place of Death: 18 Draycott Place, Chelsea, London

Place of Burial: Brompton Cemetery, London

Father: William Thomson

Mother: Zoë Skene

Spouse(s): Mabel Sophia Paget

Date of Marriage: 1886 - March Quarter

Place or Registered Place of Marriage: Sculcoates, East Riding, Yorkshire

Source: Paget Family.

Subject: Re: Lieut J H Thomson, 6th Bde, RA Tue Dec 20, 2016 9:31 pm

"THOMSON. Capt. Jocelyn Home, C.B. 1907 ;[late] R.'A ; H.M. Chief Inspector of Explosives; b. Oxford, 31 Aug. 1859 ; a. of late William Thomson, D.D., Archbishop of York. Educ. : Eton. Entered Royal Artillery, 1878; served Zulu War, 1879; India, Egypt, etc. ; posted to Royal Horse Artillery, 1885 ; selected by Royal Societyto observe transit of Venus at Barbados, 1882 , Secretary late War Office Committee on Explosives, 1888-91 ; special mission to Canada in connection with cordite 1891 ;appointed Inspector of Explosives, 1893.Publications : Dictionary of Explosives, Candill and Thomson, 1895 ; Handbook onPetroleum, Thomson and Redwood, 1901 ;The Petroleum Lamp, 1902 ; Guide to the Explosives Act, 1905. Address : Home Office, S.W. ; 18 Draycott Place, S.W.
Club : Athenaeum. [Died 13 Feb. 1908."
Source Angloboerwar

Subject: Re: Lieut J H Thomson, 6th Bde, RA Tue Dec 20, 2016 10:18 pm

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