CFHS code : BO24
Parish : St Botolph
Inscription : In Loving Memory of AUGUSTUS PERRONET THOMPSON d July 11th 1903 in his 24th year
Monument : Headstone
Above information from Cambridge Family History Society Survey
Lat Lon : 52.202923, 0.13792545 – click here for location
Monument
This small, Gothic pointed headstone, with metal lettering, in the parish area of St Botolph, is located north east of the centre circle, east of the north-bound central path, eight rows eastwards.
Inscription
‘In loving memory of Augustus Perronet Thompson
who died July 11th 1903 in his 24th year’
Augustus Perronet Thompson, B.A. (1879-1903)
Augustus was the second son of Reginald Edward Thompson, (1834-1912) MD of 73 Lillie Road, Fulham, Middlesex and Anne Isabella (née de Morgan) (1845-1884). He was born at 9 Cranley Place, South Kensington, London on 1 August 1879 and went to St Paul’s School, St Paul’s, London. He had two brothers, Reginald Campbell Thompson (1876-1941) and Edward Victor Thompson (1880-1976), who also attended Cambridge University.
He was admitted to Pembroke College in October 1898. He was the Barnes Scholar in 1899
and graduated in 1901 as BA 5th Wrangler. In 1902 he was awarded the Maths.Trip., Pt II, 1st Class and the Smith’s Prize in 1903. After graduating he lived in London at 13 Cheyne Garden, Chelsea.
Augustus returned to Cambridge for a fortnight’s stay at college and had taken his ‘lady cousin (Edith Froud Phillpott) for a paddle in a Canadian Canoe at the back of the colleges. He landed her at St. John’s College grounds, and later on the boat was found floating down the river, but not upset’. His body was recovered from near the Bridge of Sighs three days later in four foot of water and was identified from the clothing which was marked with his name. The inquest heard that Augustus had been subject ‘to intermittent fits since an attack of influenza four years ago’ and Dr. Lucas testified that ‘the high temperature on Saturday night might have produced a fit and the deceased might have fallen out of his canoe’. Augustus’ brother Reginald said ‘he suffered from epileptic fits and for some time had had medical attention for them. The fits were not of a severe nature, nor were they frequent. He was always bright and cheerful and had had a brilliant career at college. Deceased could swim and witness thought he must have had a fit and fallen into the water’. The inquest returned a verdict of ‘found drowned’
Mr. C.J. Cornish wrote a letter to The Times after his death: ‘The death by drowning in the Cam of Mr. Augustus Perronet Thomspon at the early age of 24 has caused the loss of one of such fine character and equipped with such exceptional ability, inhertied and acquired, that I ask leave to add a few words to the notice of the inquest. At St. Paul’s School, where his mathematical ability appeared early, he won, besides a senior scholarship, the Kean Scholarship and an open scholarship at Pembroke College. Yet he had so much spare energy that he would not infrequently devote part of his evenings to coaching other boys who he thought would be better for it. At Pembroke he rowed stroke of his college eight and won the Barnes Scholarship in 1899 and was Fifth Wrangler in 1901. He was subsequently placed in the First Class of the First Division of the Mathematical Tripos Part II. Instances of inherited mathematical ability are more frequent than other forms of transmitted capacity, but his was an interesting one. The son of a well-known London physician, his father’s mother was the sister of Baron Alderson, who was Senior Wrangler and also the First Chancellor’s gold medal and his maternal grandfather was the well-known mathematician, Professor Augustus De Morgan, after whom he was named’.
Sources:
ACAD – A Cambridge Alumni Database
Ancestry
Newspaper archives
By Sheila Plaister with further information by Claire Martinsen