Thomas Fletcher Waghorn (20 June 1800 – 7 January 1850) was an English sailor, navy officer, and postal pioneer who promoted and claimed the idea of a new route from Great Britain to India overland through Egypt prior to the development of the Suez Canal.

[2] At twelve years of age, Thomas entered the Royal Navy at Chatham, joining the frigate Tigris and then HMS Bahama as a midshipman in November 1812.

Retiring from naval duties as a lieutenant in 1832, he made several trips between England and India via Egypt to find ways to move letters and post.

He met many people during this period including the Pasha of Egypt, who supported his overland desert route idea between Alexandria and Suez.

That month, he also inherited a substantial estate from his grandfather, and the couple lived in Rochester until building The Lodge in Snodland's upper High Street about 1836 and mortgaged it.

The route was primarily used as a postal service, and the transport of passengers did not provide much comfort – a 24-hour ride across a usually hot desert with camels and donkeys.

In 1869, Ferdinand de Lesseps had a statue of Waghorn made by Vital Dubray installed near to the Suez Canal to honour his achievements.

Its inscription is: "Thomas Waghorn - Lieutenant RN - Pioneer and founder of the overland route - Born at Chatham 1800 - Died January 7th 1850".

This feature was popularized when River Medway, contestant on the third series of RuPaul's Drag Race UK[8] presented a runway look as the statue wearing a traffic cone wig.