Colonel Brian Harold Thomson (21 November 1918 – 7 November 2006) was a newspaper proprietor of D. C. Thomson & Co. and soldier in the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry. He was widely known as "Mr Brian" within D. C. Thomson & Co. and throughout the business community of Dundee.

Education

Brian was educated at

Charterhouse Charterhouse may refer to: * Charterhouse (monastery), of the Carthusian religious order Charterhouse may also refer to: Places * The Charterhouse, Coventry, a former monastery * Charterhouse School, an English public school in Surrey Londo ...

and spent a year in Germany before joining the family firm (D. C. Thomson & Co.) in 1937.

DC Thomson & Co.

Brian Thomson was a great-grandson of William Harold Thomson, a Dundonian who prospered first as a draper and later as a shipowner, and in 1884 became the major shareholder of

The Dundee Courier ''The Courier'' (known as ''The Courier & Advertiser'' between 1926 and 2012) is a newspaper published by DC Thomson in Dundee, Scotland. As of 2013, it is printed in six regional editions: Dundee, Angus & The Mearns, Fife, West Fife, Per ...

& Daily Argus. William's son,

David Couper Thomson David Couper Thomson DL (6 August 1861 – 12 October 1954) was a Newspaper proprietor and founder of the newspaper and publishing company D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd in Dundee, Scotland. He was the son of William Thomson, shipowner (18 June 1817 – ...

, became general manager of the paper, and in 1905 a growing portfolio of newspaper interests was consolidated as D. C. Thomson & Co.. David Couper Thomson remained chairman of the company until his death, aged 93, in 1954; but it was his nephew, Harold (Brian's father), who drove the expansion of its publishing interests, particularly in the field of comics.

The Sunday Post ''The Sunday Post'' is a weekly newspaper published in Dundee, Scotland, by DC Thomson, and characterised by a mix of news, human interest stories and short features. The paper was founded in 1914 and has a wide circulation across Scotland, N ...

, launched in 1914, introduced a "Fun" section in 1936 which became home to iconic cartoon characters such as

Oor Wullie ''Oor Wullie'' ( en, Our Willie) is a Scottish comic strip published in the D.C. Thomson newspaper '' The Sunday Post''. It features a character called Wullie; Wullie is the familiar Scots nickname for boys named William, equivalent to Willie ...

and

the Broons ''The Broons'' (English: The Browns) is a comic strip in Scots published in the weekly Scottish newspaper ''The Sunday Post''. It features the Brown family, who live in a tenement flat at 10 Glebe Street in (since the late 1990s) the fictiona ...

. Brian became a joint Managing Director in 1948 and succeeded his father as chairman in 1974. He conducted business according to strict principles of fairness and courtesy. He did not believe that his company's affairs were the concern of anyone but himself and his board, and he almost never spoke about them to the outside world. His publications upheld traditional Scottish family values and tastes, typified by the homely tone of

the Sunday Post ''The Sunday Post'' is a weekly newspaper published in Dundee, Scotland, by DC Thomson, and characterised by a mix of news, human interest stories and short features. The paper was founded in 1914 and has a wide circulation across Scotland, N ...

and by magazine titles such as Classic Stitches.

Military service

In September 1939 he joined the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry. Posted to Montgomery's Eighth Army in early 1943 and served in armoured cars in North Africa and in the intense battles fighting up the spine of Italy.Independent.co.uk Obituaries
/ref> After the war he continued to serve in the

Yeomanry Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units or sub-units of the British Army Reserve, descended from volunteer cavalry regiments. Today, Yeomanry units serve in a variety of different military roles. History Origins In the 1790s, f ...

. He was promoted to

Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...

and from 1953 to 1955 he commanded his Regiment, the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry.

Family life and private life

He married in 1947 Patricia Cunninghame (died 1991) and had one son Christopher, now chairman of D. C. Thomson & Co., and four daughters. He loved his garden and woodlands, enjoyed shooting, and was a fine golfer at Royal and Ancient at St Andrews, where he reached the final of the Jubilee Vase in 1953; he continued to play regularly until he was well into his eighties. Brian Thomson was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Fife in 1988.

References

External links