Thomas, Arthur Lewis (master

THOMAS,

ARTHUR LEWIS

BORN 10 MARCH 1887

Arthur Lewis Thomas was

born on 10 March 1887 in Clitheroe, Lancashire, son of Rev Edward Hughes Thomas, (Vicar of Clitheroe, b 1846 in Liverpool), and Camilla Fanshawe Thomas (née Wootton b 1848 in Deal, Kent).

Edward and Camilla were married in 1875 in Kensington, London. They had five children including three sisters, Dora C (b 1877), Winifred M (b 1882), Elsie F (b 1886) and a brother Edward C W (b 1884). All the children were born in Clitheroe.

In 1891 Camilla and the children were living in Galveston Road, Wandsworth, London. Arthur’s father died in the same year.

Arthur was educated at Exeter School from 1901 to 1906 before studying Classics at St John’s College, Oxford from 1906-1909. Between 1909 and 1914 he took a teaching post at the County Secondary School in Ramsgate, which later became Chatham House. While there he taught Games, Classics and Latin and also became a Head of House.

He moved to Bristol Grammar School on 15 September 1914 on a temporary appointment. He left in December 1914 to join the Strand School in London.

Arthur enlisted in 1914, serving in the London Regiment and later in the Northamptonshire Regiment as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 2nd and 3rd Battalion. He was killed in action on 24 April 1918, aged 32. He left behind a widow at 2 Clifton Road, Folkestone and is remembered with Honour at the Pozières Memorial.

Archivist, Andy Mair, investigated the names of the pupils in the photograph and discovered that many of them never came home either – a poignant reminder of the losses endured by families and school alike.

Cricket XI c1910 - Arthur standing on the right hand side

Fifth Panel 68