Page:A Compendium of Irish Biography.djvu/182

DRU His latter days were spent in Rome; and he died probably in 1815.  Drummond, Thomas, R.E., statesman, was born in Edinburgh, 10th October 1797. His father was a Writer to the Signet. Thomas early showed an inventive genius, and when at school evinced considerable aptitude for science. A cadetship was obtained for him, and he arrived at Woolwich in February 1813. The first few months of his cadet life were miserable—he was half-starved, and the tyranny of the elder cadets was all but intolerable. His scientific proclivities and indomitable perseverance carried him through however, and in July 1815 he passed with distinction, and was drafted into the Royal Engineers. In the autumn of 1819 he became acquainted with Colonel Colby, and in the following year gladly accepted a post under him in the Scotch Ordnance Survey—a field peculiarly fitted for the display and development of his talents. His summer months were occupied in laborious mountain surveys, while the winter was spent chiefly in laying down the summer work at the Tower of London, and in scientific investigations. In the course of i824-'5 he invented the lime-light, otherwise known as the Drummond light, as well as the heliostat, an instrument for throwing rays of light in a given direction, and thereby facilitating trigonometrical surveys in murky weather. The utility of these inventions was at once acknowledged by the scientific world. In the autumn of 1824 the Irish survey was begun by a reconnaissance through the island by Colby and Drummond, and in the following year the triangulation commenced by observations between Divis, near Belfast, and Slieve Snaght in Innishowen. The sighting between these points, sixty-seven miles, would have been almost impossible in ordinary weather but for Drummond's light and heliostat. The hardships he endured in a sod hut on the top of Slieve Snaght in the winter months resulted in a severe illness, compelling his return to Edinburgh. The years 1825-'8 were mainly occupied in preparation for the measurement of the Irish base line of 34,028.5 feet on the eastern shore of Lough Foyle. This was accomplished by the aid of the Colby-Drummond brass-iron compensation bars, six in number, 10 feet 1.5 inches long each, furnished with compensation microscopes. These were prepared with personal labour and scientific research by Drummond himself in the Ordnance Office in the Tower. Probably the measurement of the Irish base is one of the most accurate ever made. The anxiety and exposure attending this task seriously undermined his health. The autumn of 1829 was occupied in establishing by experiment the suitability of the Drummond light for lighthouse purposes. The expense attending its use has been the only bar to its practical application. An intimacy with Lord Brougham led to Drummond's appointment, in August 1831, as head of the Boundary Commission in connexion with the Reform Bill. A pension of £300 was conferred upon him for these services, which after two years he declined any longer to accept. In 1833 he became private secretary to Lord Althorp, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, and in July 1835 his scientific career was brought to a close by his coming to Ireland with Lord Mulgrave as Under-Secretary, A few months later he married Miss Kinnaird, a lady possessed of great personal attractions, who by her mental qualities was admirably fitted to be his companion. She had, moreover, a considerable fortune. The Ordnance Survey had given him exceptional opportunities of seeing the country and studying the character of its people, and he came, as Dr. Madden says, "in the full possession of physical energy and mental vigour, and with a mind filled with zeal to perform service in Ireland. He believed that Government might effect wonders in Ireland, and he entered upon his duties with a head teeming with projects of reform, and a heart overflowing with affection for the Irish people." He soon became the heart and soul of the Irish administration, and before he was a month in the country set about remodelling the police force established in 1814, which he found in a most inefficient state. The underpaid, worn-out body of 400 Dublin watchmen, he replaced with a force of about 1,000 able and efficient men; while the constabulary, almost all Protestants, and equally inefficient, he entirely remodelled into the present force, and attracted to the service Catholic officers and men. Sir Charles Napier, during a visit to Ireland not long afterwards, having investigated the more efficient condition of the constabulary, warmly praised Drummond's powers of administration, and declared that he was "just the sort of man that was wanted to govern India." With this force, as completely under control at Dublin Castle as one of his own delicate scientific instruments, he soon grappled, on the one hand, with the scandal of the bloody faction fights hitherto so prevalent at fairs and gatherings, and on the other, with the intolerant excesses of effete ascendancy.

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