Courtauld Greenwood Courtauld-Thomson, 1st Baron Courtauld-Thomson, (born Courtauld Thomson; 16 August 1866 – 1 November 1954) was a British businessman and holder of public and charitable offices.

Background

Thomson was the son of

Robert William Thomson Robert William Thomson Royal Scottish Society of Arts, PRSSA FRSE (29 June 1822 – 8 March 1873) was a Scottish inventor known for inventing the refillable fountain pen and the pneumatic tire, tyre. Life He was born on 29 June 1822 in Sto ...

, of

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, inventor of the pneumatic tyre, and his wife Clara (''née'' Hertz). After the death of his father in 1873, his mother married, in 1875,

John Fletcher Moulton John Fletcher Moulton, Baron Moulton (18 November 1844 – 9 March 1921) was an English mathematician, barrister, judge and Liberal politician. He was a Cambridge Apostle. Early life Moulton was born in Madeley, Shropshire, England, as ...

, later Lord Moulton. She died in 1888. Thomson was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England *Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States *Éton, a commune in the Meuse depa ...

and

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

Career

Thomson had a successful business career, becoming chairman of the Employers' Liability Assurance Corporation, among other directorships.The Times, 2 November 1954, page 6 In 1914 he was appointed Commissioner for the Red Cross and Order of St John. In 1916, he was appointed a CB and in 1918 a

KBE KBE may refer to: * Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, post-nominal letters * Knowledge-based engineering Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is the application of knowledge-based systems technology to the domain o ...

. His country seat was at

Dorneywood Dorneywood is an 18th-century house near Burnham, Buckinghamshire, Burnham in southern Buckinghamshire. Originally a Georgian architecture, Georgian farmhouse, it has Victorian and later additions, and following a fire in 1910, was remodelled ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

. He was

High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire The High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, in common with other counties, was originally the King's representative on taxation upholding the law in Saxon times. The word Sheriff evolved from 'shire-reeve'. Sheriff is the oldest secular office under th ...

in 1933. In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he turned it into a hostel for officers in the allied air forces. In 1943, together with his two sisters (one of whom, Elspeth, was the widow of the writer

Kenneth Grahame Kenneth Grahame ( ; 8 March 1859 – 6 July 1932) was a British writer. He is best remembered for the classic of children's literature ''The Wind in the Willows'' (1908). Born in Scotland, he spent most of his childhood with his grandmother in ...

) he presented it to the nation for use by a Minister of the Crown. In 1944, he was raised to the peerage "for philanthropic and public services". Having changed his surname to Courtauld-Thomson, he took the title of Baron Courtauld-Thomson, of Dorneywood in the County of Buckingham. Thomson designed a diamond and pearl shell-shaped brooch (from 1918) that was given to his sister Winifred, and left by her to

Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was List of British royal consorts, Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of K ...

Personal life

Lord Courtauld-Thomson died unmarried on 1 November 1954 at the King Edward VII Sanatorium,

Midhurst Midhurst () is a market town and civil parish in the Chichester District in West Sussex, England. It lies on the River Rother (Western), River Rother, inland from the English Channel and north of Chichester. The name Midhurst was first reco ...

, Sussex, of which he had been chairman for 32 years.''The Times'', 2 November 1954, page 1 He was buried in the churchyard of St Anne's Church in Dropmore. The peerage became extinct on his death. His sister Elspeth Thomson married

, author of ''

The Wind in the Willows ''The Wind in the Willows'' is a children's novel by the British novelist Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. It details the story of Mole, Ratty, and Badger as they try to help Mr. Toad, after he becomes obsessed with motorcars and get ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Courtauld-Thomson, Courtauld Thomson, 1st Baron 1866 births 1954 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Companions of the Order of the Bath High sheriffs of Buckinghamshire Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Barons created by George VI Guild of St George