Northcote Whitridge Thomas (1868 - 1936)

Biography

Northcote Whitridge Thomas was a British anthropologist.

He was born in 1868 in Oswestry, Shropshire, England (United Kingdom). ^[1] His childhood was spent with his uncle and aunt, John Askew Roberts and Katherine Roberts, who virtually adopted him.

He studied history at Trinity College, University of Cambridge, England (see the 1891 census ^[2]). He obtained an MA (Master of Arts) degree in 1894. He was a gifted linguist.

He published over fifty articles in academic journals and many books. He served on the councils of the British Folklore Society and the Royal Anthropological Institute.

He married Alice Evans in September 1910 in Chelsea, London, England. ^[3]

In 1909, Northcote Thomas became the first Government Anthropologist to be appointed by the United Kingdom Colonial Office. In this capacity he conducted a series of anthropological surveys in Nigeria and Sterra Leone. In the course of his survey work, he assembled large collections of artefacts, took thousands of photographs, made sound recordings of speech and music, and even collected botanical specimens. His artefact collection is now stored at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology of the University of Cambridge.

He was considered something of an eccentric. After a few years, he was sent home to the United Kingdom. He was once described by a Colonial Office clerk as a "recognized maniac in many ways. He ... lived on vegetables and was generally a rum person." However, when the Royal Anthropological Institute was asked to examine his Nigerian research it reported that it was "impressed with the thoroughness of his enquiries".

Northcote Thomas was a member of the British Society for Psychical Research and authored works on crystal-gazing and telepathy.

He died in 1936 in Worcestershire, England. ^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ England and Wales General Register Office, online index (births); GRO Reference: 1868 J Quarter in Oswestry, Volume 06A; page 722.
2. ↑ https://www.freecen.org.uk/search_records/59028bfbe9379091b162faa8/northcote-w-thomas-1891-cambridgeshire-cambridge-1869-?locale=en
3. ↑ https://www.freebmd.org.uk/search (FreeBMD, Marriages, September quarter of 1910, Chelsea, Volume 1a, page 989).
4. ↑ England and Wales General Register Office, online index (deaths); GRO Reference: 1936 M Quarter in Upton-on-Severn, Volume 06C, page 236.

• Wikipedia: Northcote W. Thomas.
• https://re-entanglements.net/tag/anthropology ([Re:]Entanglements: anthropology: Listening to images, troubling the archive: Art Assassins: Colonialism, Community, N. W. Thomas, Outreach, Photography).
• http://www.beaumont-project.com/BeaumontFT/2634.html (The Beaumont Project, Beaumont and Toller FamilyTree, Northcote Whitridge Thomas).
• Information taken by Alan Chisholm from a family history circulated privately to relatives in August 1993 by his fourth cousin, Mr Norman Home of London, England.