Sir Graeme Thomson (9 August 1875 – 28 September 1933) was a British civil servant in the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

, who served as a colonial civil servant and then governor in several British colonies.

Admiralty clerk

Graeme Thomson was educated at Winchester and New College, Oxford and joined the civil service in 1900, being assigned to the

.Obituary in ''Straits Times''
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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 Director of Transports at the Admiralty in December,''The Advertiser'' (Adelaide, South Australia), 1 April 1915, page 7, column 7
succeeding Admiral Savory.

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

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.

The Adelaide ''

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'' described him in 1915 as:

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.

In 1917, the Directorate of Shipping for the Ministry of Shipping and Admiralty was created and Thomson was placed in charge of it.

Colonial Service

After the war government involvement in shipping declined and his post was abolished. He then joined the

Colonial Service The Colonial Service, also known as His/Her Majesty's Colonial Service and replaced in 1954 by Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service (HMOCS), was the British government service that administered most of Britain's overseas possessions, under the aut ...

, being appointed as Colonial Secretary of Ceylon in 1919, then Governor of British Guiana in 1922 and of Governor of Nigeria in 1925, and finally of

Governor of Ceylon {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019 The Governor of Ceylon can refer to historical vice-regal representatives of three colonialism, colonial powers: Portuguese Ceylon * List of Captains of Portuguese Ceylon (1518–1551) * List of Captain-majors of ...

in 1931. He died at Aden on his way home from there. He had been appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 1928 New Year Honours.London Gazette supplement
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Graeme 1875 births 1933 deaths British civil servants Governors of British Ceylon Governors of British Guiana British Governors and Governors-General of Nigeria Chief Secretaries of Ceylon Members of the Legislative Council of Ceylon British expatriates in Sri Lanka 19th-century British people Alumni of New College, Oxford People educated at Winchester College Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath