338 



Mills mikmi 



The Bev. John Shearme Thomas, s. of the Rev. F. W. Thomas, of 

 Parkham, Devon, born Sept. 19th, 1835. Entered Marlborough, Feb., 1848, 

 and Trinity Coll., Cambridge, in 1855, where he took his degree— 13. A., 

 1859; M.A., 1861. He was ordained deacon, 1861, and priest (Sarum)j 

 1866. Became Assistant-Master at Marlborough, 1859, and Bursar, 1860. 

 He married, first, Emily Anna, d. of Canon Reginald Smith, Rector of W 

 Stafford, Dorset, and secondly, a daughter of Dean Farrar. Died Sept. 26th, 

 1897, aged 62. Buried at Preshute. 



Closely connected with the government of the college for nearly half-a- 

 century, consulted and relied upon by three successive Head-Masters in all 

 emergencies, he lived to see the school, which, when he first took office as 

 Bursar, was £40,000 in debt, emerge from all its difficulties and assume by 

 degrees the position which it now holds among the great public schools of 

 England — a position in no small degree due to the great business capacity 

 which for thirty-seven years he devoted untiringly to its advancement. 

 " Marlburians," said The Times, "will never forget his services to the 

 school, and his death will cause universal regret in their ranks." " Since 

 Arnold's," said Dean Bradley, "no death has ever left such a gap in any 

 public school." This was shown at the funeral, which was conducted by 

 three successive Head-Masters of the college, and was attended by some two 

 thousand persons. 



But though the best part of his life and abilities was given to the making 

 of Marlborough, his abounding activity found vent also in county business 

 — and from the first formation of the County Council he was appointed Vice- 

 Chairman of the Finance Committee, of which he became the Chairman in 

 1896 — taking from the first a very prominent part in the work of the 

 Council. In politics, as in everything else, he was nothing if not strenuous, 

 and at election times he fought most valiantly, not to say fiercely, for the 

 Liberal party. The story told of him, that, when a boy at Marlborough, he 

 went in, "last wicket," in a match when fifty-one runs were required to 

 win, and kept up his wicket with dogged determination against professional 

 bowling for an hour, making only one run, whilst his captain made the 

 other fifty, is characteristic of the whole history of his life. Those who 

 knew him best knew most of the influence for good which as boy and man 

 he exercised on those around him. He died — as he had lived — in harness. 



The Marlburian, No. 504, Nov. 4th, 1897, contains the fullest account 

 of his life and work, consisting of the following contributions by different 

 writers :— " In Memoriam" notices, with portrait, by R. Bos worth Smith 

 and " An Old Colleague " ; Letter from the Dean of Westminster ; " Recol- 

 lections of the Bursar," by H. Clayton ; Poem, by " B. " [A. H. Beesley] ; 

 and "The Bursar's Funeral," (from the Marlborough Times). Other obit. 



