Robert Howard Garry Thomson

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, (13 September 1925 – 23 May 2007) was a conservator and a

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

Biography

Robert Howard Garry Thomson (known as Garry Thomson) was born on

Carey Island Carey Island ( ms, Pulau Carey) is an island in Selangor, Malaysia. It is administered by the Zone 17 of the Kuala Langat Municipal Council. Carey Island is located to the south of Port Klang and north of Banting town. It is a huge island separat ...

, Malaya, where his father was a planter producing palm oil. He attended

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

, in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, after which he served with the

Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME ) is a corps of the British Army that maintains the equipment that the Army uses. The corps is described as the "British Army's Professional Engineers". History Prior to REME's for ...

in India at the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

before going on to

Magdalene College Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, where he read

Chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

. From 1951 to 1955, he worked on the editorial staff of ‘A History of Technology’, then began his long association with the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, where he started as a research chemist.

Professional life

Garry Thomson began his career as a Research

Chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...

, at the

National Gallery (London) The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director of ...

, a post he held from 1955 to 1960, when he was promoted to Scientific Adviser to the Trustees and Head of the Scientific Department at the National Gallery from 1960 a post he held until his retirement in 1985. In 1968 Garry organized the first conference on museum climatology for the

International Institute for Conservation The International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (IIC) is a global organisation for conservation and restoration professionals with over two thousand members in over fifty countries. IIC seeks to promote the knowledge, ...

(IIC) in London. He also served as President of the

(IIC), from 1983 to 1986. He undertook various missions for ICCROM, including to

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

. With colleagues, he conceived the ICCROM course on 'Scientific Principles of Conservation', which was launched in Rome in 1974, and in which he also taught. In 1976 he contributed to the new ICCROM course on 'Preventive Conservation' and was a regular lecturer at ICCROM until 1989. Following his retirement he was a trustee of the National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside from 1986 to 1991. In 1999 he received the first Plowden Gold Medal, awarded by the Royal Warrant Holders' Association to recognise the most significant contributions to the advancement of the conservation profession.

Editorships

* Honorary editor from 1959 to 1967 of Studies in Conservation, the journal of the

(IIC). * Recent Advances in Conservation (1963) * Museum Climatology (1967).

The Museum Environment

Garry Thomson made a significant contribution to Conservation science,

Preventive conservation *Collections maintenance *Conservation and restoration of cultural property *Preservation (library and archive) *Risk management (cultural property) {{Disambig ...

, and

Art conservation The conservation and restoration of cultural property focuses on protection and care of cultural property (tangible cultural heritage), including artworks, architecture, archaeology, and museum collections. Conservation activities include preve ...

as a whole with his publication ‘The Museum Environment’ first published in 1978, and revised in 1986. This book became the major source of information regarding recommendations for environmental conditions in museums around the world, and although the guidelines are no longer followed as rigidly as they once were it continues to be a significant guiding book for the discipline. Its popularity continues at least in part due to the way in which he explained complicated scientific concepts in simple terms. The Museum Environment set out parameters for the best conditions in which objects could be stored and displayed within the Museum Environment.

Honours and awards

* Commander of the Order of the British Empire (

) appointed in 1983. * Recipient of the ICCROM Award (1986). * The first recipient of the Plowden Gold Medal (1999).

Personal life

Garry Thomson married, in 1954, Mom Rajawongse Saisvasdi Svasti (known as Noy), the daughter of a Thai prince. They had four sons. Outside of his family and professional life the other consuming interest of Thomson's life was

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

, which dated back to his time as an undergraduate at Cambridge, where he started a Buddhist group. For several decades he was a member of the

Buddhist Society The Buddhist Society is a UK registered charity which aims to encourage the study and practice of Buddhist principles. The Buddhist Society is an inter-denominational and non-sectarian lay organization. It offers talks and classes on the teach ...

of London, one of Europe's earliest Buddhist organisations, serving on its council and as vice-president (1978–88); he also taught its basic meditation class. He gave public talks and wrote articles and book reviews for the society's journal Middle Way, and was a regular and enthusiastic contributor to the society's summer school. Producing numerous talks. Thomson proved a very influential teacher at a time when interest in Buddhist practice was growing rapidly. Not only was he unassuming, kind and generous with his time; he also brought to the practice of meditation a mind trained in science — intelligent, open, objective and questioning.

Publications

* The Museum Environment (1978) (1986) * Reflections on the life of

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

(1982) * The Sceptical Buddhist (1995)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Garry People educated at Charterhouse School Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge People associated with the National Gallery, London English chemists Malaysian people of English descent English Buddhists Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English non-fiction writers English religious writers Buddhist writers 1925 births 2007 deaths Conservator-restorers English male non-fiction writers 20th-century English male writers British people in British Malaya