Page:Notes by the Way.djvu/120

 Mr. William John Thoms was born on the 16th of November, 1803, so that he was the junior of his friend Mr. Dilke by fourteen years. He was the son of Nathaniel Thoms, who had been for many years a clerk in the Treasury. Mr. T. C. Noble, in 'N. & Q.' of the 17th of October, 1885, records that a curious error was made in the register of his baptism in St. Margaret's Church, Westminster, December 15th, 1803, in which his name is given as simply "John Thoms, son of Nathaniel by Ruth Ann, [born] November 16." This was corrected in 1857 by a sworn affidavit before Mr. Arnold, the magistrate, and at the foot of the page was then written, "This should be William John Thoms, according to the declaration of Mary Ann Thoms annexed hereto. Mercer Davies, curate, June 5, 1857." Mr. Thoms was for twenty years in the Secretary's office at Chelsea Hospital. In 1845, additional clerks being required, on account of the great railway pressure, for service in the House of Lords, Mr. Thoms was appointed to a clerkship. He was for many years head of the Printed Paper Office, where, The Athenæum says, his literary knowledge and research soon became known, and it was not long before he

"had drawn to his room for unofficial purposes the great lawyers and politicians of the recent past, Lord Brougham, Lord Lyndhurst, and Lord Campbell; the eminent historians Lord Macaulay and Earl Stanhope; and to these may be added the names of the Earl of Ellenborough, Lord Broughton &hellip; but a complete list would include most of the distinguished names among the members &hellip; of the Upper House."

As early as 1838 he was elected a Fellow of the Society of Society of Antiquaries, in the work of which he took an active part, and did Antiquaries, his best to prevent the election to membership of those who, with only a superficial knowledge, sought to add the distinction of F.S.A. to their names.

In the same year he was appointed secretary of the Camden Society, a position which he held for thirty-five years. In 1863 Mr. Thoms was appointed Deputy Librarian of the House of Lords; this post, in consequence of old age, he resigned in 1882.

Mr. Thoms's first work, 'Early Prose Romances,' was published in 1827-8, followed in 1834 by 'Lays and Legends of Various Nations,' issued in monthly parts at half-a-crown, Mr. Thoms choosing for his motto the words of Sir John Malcolm, "He who desires to be well acquainted with a people will not reject their

popular stories or local superstitions." In 1838 he wrote 'The Book of the Court, giving the Origin, Duties, and Privileges of the Nobility and of the Officers of State.' And in 1845, to show that he was not always engaged on historic doubts, he published under the title of 'Gammer Gurton's Pleasant Stories ' a delightful little Christmas book for children, beautifully illustrated, and printed by the Chiswick Press. The book is inscribed by Ambrose Merton, Gent., F.S.A., who, "in all hearty good will and affection, dedicates