John Nichols Thom
After a short spell as an innkeeper in Wadebridge he settled down as a clerk in the firm of Lubbock and Co, wine merchants of Truro, and took over the business when the partners retired, extending it to include malting.
[5] At the Quarter Sessions held at Bodmin on 15 July 1828, Tom applied successfully for the return of £304 paid in excise duty on malt destroyed in the fire at his malthouse on 17 June 1828.
[6] In 1831 Tom received treatment from a surgeon for an "attack of insanity" but recovered sufficiently and the following spring sailed from Truro to Liverpool with a cargo of malt.
[8] Although many people realized he was an imposter he nevertheless became a colourful and popular figure in the town, partly because he frequently made comical and insulting speeches directed at the unpopular mayor and magistrates of the city and the Archbishop of Canterbury.
[9] He then decided to stand in the East Kent election but polled only a derisory three votes, including his own, and thereafter turned his attention to publishing a weekly paper, The Lion.
Full of biblical quotations, it argued for the rights of the poor, expressed loyalty to the Crown, and was critical of the clergy, aristocracy, town corporations and Parliament.
[10] Tom's biographer described the views expressed in The Lion as showing "amazing common sense... far in advance of those generally held in his time", for example, regarding rents, taxation, the Irish problem, and corporal punishment, although he concedes that these "occasional shafts of light" were surrounded by "turgid nonsense".
In spite of the testimony of a number of character witnesses, the jury returned a verdict of guilty and Tom was sentenced to three months imprisonment and seven years transportation to Australia.
Tom's father in Truro brought his son's case to the attention of Sir Hussey Vivian, the Liberal candidate for East Cornwall in the August 1837 election.
Vivian, after his election, took the matter up with the Home Secretary, Lord John Russell, and Tom was granted a free pardon by Queen Victoria, on the condition he was returned into the care of his family in Cornwall.
[15] Tom was still refusing to acknowledge any association to the Cornish family and, instead of returning to Cornwall, he went to live with a local farmer and supporter, Mr Francis of Fairbrook, Boughton-under-Blean, who had offered to be his guardian.
Some wealthier landowners were however becoming alarmed and, on 31 May 1838, a local magistrate, Dr Poore, issued a warrant for Tom's arrest for inciting workmen to leave their work.
A detachment of the 45th Infantry under Major Armstrong, with three junior officers and about one hundred men, met up with the magistrates and tracked Tom and his followers down to a clearing in Bossenden Wood.
[23] Tom's biographer describes public feeling: "This was an insignificant casualty list as battles go; but it was a terrible price to pay for the capture, dead, of one man.
"[24]An inquest was held at the White Horse, Boughton, the Saturday after the battle, with the jury returning a verdict of "justifiable homicide" on the deaths of Tom and his followers.
