Alexander Thom

Alexander "Sandy" Thom (26 March 1894 – 7 November 1985) was a Scottish engineer most famous for his theory of the Megalithic yard, categorisation of stone circles and his studies of Stonehenge and other archaeological sites.

Life and work

Thom was born in Carradale in 1894. His mother was Lily Stevenson Strang from the family of Robert Louis Stevenson. Her mother (Thom's grandmother) belonged to a large family from Symington, upon whom had been bestowed the land by Robert the Bruce. His father was a clever tenant farmer at Mains farm for Carradale House. His father trained the Church choir while his mother was pianist. Thom spent his early years at Mains farm until moving to The Hill farm at Dunlop, Ayrshire. Instilled with a good work ethic by his father, Thom taught himself industrial engineering and entered college in Glasgow in 1911 where he studied alongside John Logie Baird. In 1912 he attended summer school at Loch Eck where he was trained in surveying and field astronomy by Dr. David Clark and Professor Moncur. In 1913, aged just 19, he assisted in surveying the Canadian Pacific Rail Network.

Alexander Thom (footballer)

Alexander Thom (10 October 1894 - 1 October 1973) was a Scottish footballer who played for Dumbarton, Kilmarnock, Ayr United, Motherwell, Morton, Airdrieonians, Hull City and Swindon Town.

References

Alexander Thom (disambiguation)

Alexander Thom (1894–1985) was a Scottish engineer.

Alexander Thom may also refer to:

Alexander Thom (almanac editor)

Alexander Thom (1801–1879) was a Scottish publisher, the founder of Thom's Irish Almanac.

Life

He was born at Findhorn in Moray, the son of the writer and journalist Walter Thom. He was educated at the High School, Edinburgh, and went to Dublin at age 20 to assist his father in the management of the Dublin Journal. On his father's death he obtained, through the influence of Sir Robert Peel, 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. 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, Sir John Davies, William Petty, George Berkeley, and others such as Gerard Boate, Thomas Prior and Arthur Dobbs.

Alexander Thom (surgeon)

Alexander Thom (October 26, 1775 – September 26, 1845) was a military surgeon, judge and political figure in Upper Canada.

He was born in Scotland in 1775, the son of a farmer named Alexander Thom, and studied at King's College in Aberdeen.

He joined the British Army and became a surgeon in 1799. He served with the 41st Foot in Lower Canada from 1803 to 1813. He married Harriet E. Smythe (Hannah Smith?) at Niagara in 1811. Thom was taken prisoner during the War of 1812. He was chosen as the surgeon for the military settlement at Perth in Upper Canada in 1815 and served as the doctor there until 1822. Thom built a sawmill and gristmill on the Tay River at Perth. After the death of his first wife, he married Eliza Montague and then Betsy Smythe after Eliza died in 1820. He was named a justice of the peace and became a judge in the district court in 1835. Thom was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada in a February 1836 by-election but defeated in the general election that followed later that year.