Graeme Thomson
Sir Graeme Thomson Governor of British Guiana | |
|---|---|
| In office 4 April 1923 – 31 August 1925 | |
| Monarch | George V |
| Preceded by | Wilfred Collet |
| Succeeded by | Cecil Hunter-Rodwell |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 9 August 1875 |
| Died | 28 September 1933 (aged 58) Aden |
| Citizenship | British |
Sir Graeme Thomson
Admiralty clerk
Graeme Thomson was educated at Winchester and New College, Oxford and joined the civil service in 1900, being assigned to the Admiralty.[1]
Director of Transports
Shortly after the outbreak of war, he received extremely rapid promotion, from a superintending clerk to Civil Assistant Director of Transport in September 1914 and to
.Winston Churchill praised him after stating over a million troops had been moved:
The credit for these arrangements lies very largely with the head of the Admiralty Transport Department, Mr. Graeme Thomson—one of the discoveries of the War, a man who has stepped into the place when the emergency came, who has formed, organised, and presided over performances and transactions the like of which were never contemplated by any State in history. Indeed, so smoothly and unfailingly has this vast business, the like of which has not been previously witnessed, been carried through, that we have several times been compelled to remind the soldiers whom we serve, and I now think it right to remind the House, that, after all, we are at war.[4]
The Adelaide
A tall, soldierly-looking man with the face of a diplomat, the forehead of a thinker, a square chin, and a bushy moustache, Mr. Thomson's appearance conveys the impression of a rare combination of organising ability, accuracy, judgment, resource, and rapid assimilation of ideas.[2]
In 1917, the Directorate of Shipping for the Ministry of Shipping and Admiralty was created and Thomson was placed in charge of it.[1]
Colonial Service
After the war government involvement in shipping declined and his post was abolished. He then joined the
He had been appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 1928 New Year Honours.[7]
References
- ^ a b c Obituary in Straits Times
- ^ a b The Advertiser (Adelaide, South Australia), 1 April 1915, page 7, column 7.
- ^ Edward Walford. The county families of the United Kingdom; or, Royal manual of the titled and untitled aristocracy of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland (Volume ed.59, yr.1919), 353.
- ^ Hansard, 15 February 1915, Naval estimates statement.
- ^ "No. 32751". The London Gazette. 29 September 1922. p. 6896.
- ^ "No. 33689". The London Gazette. 13 February 1931. p. 1003.
- ^ London Gazette supplement