Thomas Picton
Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Picton GCB (24 August 1758 – 18 June 1815) was a Welsh British Army officer who fought in a number of campaigns for Britain in the Napoleonic Wars. According to the historian Alessandro Barbero, Picton was "respected for his courage and feared for his irascible temperament." The Duke of Wellington called him "a rough foul-mouthed devil as ever lived", but very capable.
Picton came to public attention initially for his alleged cruelty during his governorship of Trinidad, as a result of which he was put on trial in England for illegally torturing a woman. Though he was convicted, the conviction was later overturned.
He is chiefly remembered for his exploits under Wellington in the Iberian Peninsular War, during which he fought in many engagements displaying great bravery and persistence. He was killed fighting at the Battle of Waterloo, during a crucial bayonet charge in which his division stopped d'Erlon's corps' attack against the allied centre left. He was the most senior officer to die at Waterloo.
Thomas Shirley
Sir Thomas Shirley (1564 – c. 1634) was an English soldier, adventurer and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1584 and 1622. His financial difficulties drove him into privateering which culminated in his capture by the Turks and later imprisonment in the Tower of London.
Family
Thomas Shirley was the eldest son of Sir Thomas Shirley of Wiston, Sussex, and Anne Kempe, the daughter of Sir Thomas Kempe (d. 7 March 1591) of Olantigh in Wye, Kent.Sir Anthony Shirley and Sir Robert Shirley were his younger brothers.
Career
Shirley matriculated at Hart Hall, Oxford in 1579, but left the university without taking a degree. In 1584 he was elected Member of Parliament for Steyning. He went on military service with his father and brother in the Low Countries in 1585, and later saw some in Ireland. He was knighted at Kilkenny in Ireland by the lord deputy, Sir William Fitz-William, on 26 October 1589. Shirley later came to the court. In the summer of 1591 he made a secret marriage to one of Queen Elizabeth's maids of honour and when the queen heard of it, she promptly committed him to the Marshalsea Prison. He remained in prison till the spring of 1592. In 1593 he was elected MP for Steyning again. In the same year he saw service with the rank of captain in the Low Countries again.
Sir Thomas (horse)
Sir Thomas (1785 – after 1790) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse. In a career that lasted from October 1787 to May 1790 he ran thirteen or fourteen times and won nine or ten races. In 1788 he became the first horse owned by a member of the British Royal Family to win the Epsom Derby, having been bought as a two-year-old by the Prince of Wales who later became King George IV. Following his win in the Derby, Sir Thomas raced in the Prince's ownership with some success until 1790.
Background
Sir Thomas was bred by Mr Dawson who owned him for his first race. Sir Thomas's sire Pontac won several races at Newmarket in 1776 and 1777, before retiring to stud. As a stallion he was first based at Richmond in Yorkshire and later moved to Brigg in Lincolnshire. Sir Thomas was the tenth of eleven foals produced by the mare Sportsmistress who had previously produced the successful racehorse and important sire Potoooooooo, by Eclipse.
Racing career
1787: two-year-old season
Sir Thomas reportedly won his only start as a two-year-old after which he was bought for 2,000 guineas by the Prince of Wales. This probably took place in 1787, although at this period Thoroughbreds had their official "birthdays" on 1 May and that Sir Thomas would have been described as a "Two-year-old" in the early part of 1788.
