Alexander Thom (1801–1879) was a Scottish publisher, the founder of ''Thom's Irish Almanac''.
Life
He was born at
Findhorn
Findhorn ( gd, Inbhir Èir or ''Inbhir Èireann'') is a village in Moray, Scotland. It is located on the eastern shore of Findhorn Bay and immediately south of the Moray Firth. Findhorn is 3 miles (5 km) northwest of Kinloss, and about 5 ...
in
Moray
Moray () gd, Moireibh or ') is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland.
Between 1975 ...
, the son of the writer and journalist
Walter Thom. He was educated at the
High School, Edinburgh
The Royal High School (RHS) of Edinburgh is a co-educational school administered by the City of Edinburgh Council. The school was founded in 1128 and is one of the oldest schools in Scotland. It serves 1,200 pupils drawn from four feeder primar ...
, and went to
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
at age 20 to assist his father in the management of the ''
Dublin Journal
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 cen ...
''. On his father's death he obtained, through the influence of
Sir Robert Peel
Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850) was a British Conservative statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835 and 1841–1846) simultaneously serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer ...
, the contract for printing for the post office in Ireland. In 1838 he obtained the contract for the printing for all royal commissions in Ireland, and in 1876 was appointed to the post of Queen's Printer for Ireland.
In 1844 Thom founded the work for which he is known, the ''Irish Almanac and Official Directory'', which became a leader in its field. It incorporated statistics relating to Ireland.
[ Thom supervised its publication for over 30 years, passing the copyright to his son-in-law Frederick Pilkington in 1876. "Thom's Directory" was revised annually; in 1960 it was split into Thom's Dublin Street Directory and Thom's Commercial Directory, revised in alternate years until 2012. ]James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...
relied heavily on the 1904 edition when writing ''Ulysses
Ulysses is one form of the Roman name for Odysseus, a hero in ancient Greek literature.
Ulysses may also refer to:
People
* Ulysses (given name), including a list of people with this name
Places in the United States
* Ulysses, Kansas
* Ulysse ...
''.
In 1860 he published for free distribution ''A Collection of Tracts and Treatises illustrative of the Natural History, Antiquities, and the Political and Social State of Ireland'', two volumes which contain reprints of writers on Irish affairs in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Included are works of James Ware, Edmund Spenser
Edmund Spenser (; 1552/1553 – 13 January 1599) was an English poet best known for ''The Faerie Queene'', an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is recognized as one of the premier craftsmen of ...
, Sir John Davies
Sir John Davies (16 April 1569 (baptised)8 December 1626) was an English poet, lawyer, and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1597 and 1621. He became Attorney General for Ireland and formulated many of the legal ...
, William Petty
Sir William Petty FRS (26 May 1623 – 16 December 1687) was an English economist, physician, scientist and philosopher. He first became prominent serving Oliver Cromwell and the Commonwealth in Ireland. He developed efficient methods to su ...
, George Berkeley
George Berkeley (; 12 March 168514 January 1753) – known as Bishop Berkeley (Bishop of Cloyne of the Anglican Church of Ireland) – was an Anglo-Irish philosopher whose primary achievement was the advancement of a theory he called "immate ...
, and others such as Gerard Boate
Gerard Boate (also Gérard de Boot, Bootius or Botius) (1604, Gorinchem – 1650, Dublin) was a Dutch physician, known for his ''Natural History of Ireland''.
Life
Boate was born Gerrit/Gerard Boot, in Gorinchem, son of the knight Godfried de Boot ...
, Thomas Prior and Arthur Dobbs
Arthur Dobbs (2 April 1689 – 28 March 1765) was a British colonial official who served as the seventh governor of North Carolina from 1754 until 1764.
Early life and career
Dobbs was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, where his mother had been sen ...
.[
In 1878, during a printers' strike in Dublin, Thom sent work to Scotland. The resulting publicity brought the issue to the attention of the ]Westminster Parliament
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremacy ...
.
Thom, who was twice married, died at his residence, Donnycarney House
Donnycarney () is a Northside suburb in the city of Dublin, Ireland, in the jurisdiction of Dublin City Council. It is mostly residential, around from the centre of Dublin. Dublin GAA's home stadium, Parnell Park, is located here.
Location
Do ...
, near Dublin, on 22 December 1879.[
]
List of Thom's Directories available free online
* Thom's Irish Almanac and Official Directory with the Post Office Dublin City and County Directory, 4th Annual Publication (1847) - (Alexander Thom) (village listings for South Dublin County)
* Thom's Irish Almanac and Official Directory with the Post Office Dublin City and County Directory, 7th Annual Publication (1850) - (Alexander Thom)
* Thom's Irish Almanac and Official Directory with the Post Office Dublin City and County Directory, 8th Annual Publication (1851) - (Alexander Thom)
* Thom's Irish Almanac and Official Directory with the Post Office Dublin City and County Directory, 9th Annual Publication (1852) - (Alexander Thom)
* Thom's Irish Almanac and Official Directory with the Post Office Dublin City and County Directory, 14th Annual Publication (1857) - (Alexander Thom)
* Thom's Irish Almanac and Official Directory with the Post Office Dublin City and County Directory, 16th Annual Publication (1859) - (Alexander Thom)
* Thom's Irish Almanac and Official Directory of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 19th Annual Publication (1862)
* Thom's Irish Almanac and Official Directory of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 27th Annual Publication (1870) - (Alexander Thom)
* Thom's Irish Almanac and Official Directory of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 30th Annual Publication (1873) - (Alexander Thom)
* Thom's Irish Almanac and Official Directory of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 31st Annual Publication (1874) - (Alexander Thom)
* Thom's Irish Almanac and Official Directory of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 33rd Annual Publication (1876) - (Alexander Thom)
* Thom's Irish Almanac and Official Directory of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 34th Annual Publication (1877) - (Alexander Thom) (village descriptions and listings for the South Dublin County area)
* Thom's Irish Almanac and Official Directory of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 35th Annual Publication (1878) - (Alexander Thom)
* Thom's Official Directory of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Annual Publication (1881) - (Alexander Thom)
* Thom's Official Directory of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Annual Publication (1883) - (Alexander Thom)
* Thom's Official Directory of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 41st Annual Publication (1884)
See also
* Isaac Slater
Isaac Slater (1803 – 3 December 1883) was a British publisher of trade directories.
He was born in Manchester. In 1818 he became the apprentice of James Pigot, a publisher of trade directories. Either in 1833, or after the death of Pigot ...
References
;Attribution
External links
*
Maps of Dublin accompanying Thom's Official Directory, 1874-1898.
A UCD Digital Library Collection.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thom, Alexander
1801 births
1879 deaths
Scottish publishers (people)
19th-century Scottish writers
People from Moray
People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh
Scottish editors
19th-century Scottish businesspeople