COL. ANSTRUTHER THOMSON 339 



Charles Napier's staff during the Scinde War, He 

 was present at the battle of Meanee in 1842, and 

 there lost a seal, a greenish-grey stone with the 

 Thomson crest on it, and the motto " Honesty is 

 good policy ". The seal was afterwards found on the 

 battleground by a private soldier. It was covered 

 with clay. He gave it to a half-caste woman. She 

 came to England on board the Himalaya as ayah 

 in charge of some children in the same ship with 

 General Taylor of Ogwell's children. She gave the 

 seal to their nurse Harriet, who afterwards gave it 

 to Miss Robertson, a friend of the Taylors, and told 

 her how she got possession of it. Many years later 

 Mr. Gathorne Hardy, then a schoolboy, was taking 

 the impression of various seals with Miss Robertson 

 and asked whose crest it was. She did not know, 

 but sent it to Strongitharm, the seal engraver, who 

 said that it belonged to a Scotch family, Anstruther 

 Thomson. Miss Robertson gave it to my niece, 

 Clem Campbell, and she brought it to Charleton 

 in September, 1899. My brother's widow was at 

 Charleton at the time. She said Willie told her 

 that he had lost it at Meanee. She thought it was 

 given to him by his uncle, Sir Charles Adam, who 

 was a Lord of the Admiralty, when he was staying 

 with him at the Admiralty before he sailed to India. 

 It was thirty-seven years from the time it was lost 

 at Meanee till Miss Robertson discovered that it 

 belonged to the family of Colonel W. Anstruther 

 Thomson. 



I went home on 4th October. Colonel Boldero 



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