Memorial

Assistant-Surgeon J Thomson

Assistant Surgeon Thomson

Source: Copyright Valeriy Minukhin

1/13

Current Location

In public gardens at Castle Hill, Bridge Street, Forres, Moray, Grampian, IV36 1QB, Scotland

NJ 03405 58734

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Type of Memorial: Obelisk
WMR Reference Number: 69250
Description: Tapering granite obelisk set on square plinth with commemorative plaque above a three-stepped stone base.
Inscription: TO THE MEMORY OF/ ASSISTANT-SURGEON JAMES THOMSON,/ BORN AT CROMARTY ON THE 8TH MARCH 1823/ AND DECEASED IN THE CRIMEA ON THE 5TH OCTOBER 1854./ HE SERVED WITH THE 44TH REGIMENT AT MALTA IN 1850 WHEN THE CHOLERA BROKE OUT AND SHORTLY/ PROVED FATAL TO ALL THE SURGEONS OF THE CORPS, HIMSELF ALONE EXCEPTED./ THE SKILL, FORTITUDE AND HUMANITY, DISPLAYED BY HIM IN ARRESTING THE PROGRESS/ OF THAT DISEASE, GAINED FOR HIM THE PRAISES OF THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF./ HE WAS PRESENT WITH THE SAME REGIMENT AT THE BATTLE OF THE ALMA IN 1854, AND/ A FEW DAYS AFTERWARDS, WHEN THE BRITISH WERE LEAVING THE FIELD, HE VOLUNTEERED/ TO REMAIN BEHIND WITH SEVEN HUNDRED DESPERATELY-WOUNDED RUSSIANS. ISOLATED/ FROM HIS COUNTRYMEN AND ENDANGERED BY THE VICINITY OF LARGE BODIES OF COSSACKS, ILL SUPPLIED WITH FOOD, AND EXPOSED TO THE RISK OF PESTILENCE, HE SUCCEEDED IN/ RESTORING TO HEALTH ABOUT FOUR HUNDRED OF THE ENEMY, AND EMBARKING THEM FOR/ ODESSA. HE THEN DIED FROM THE EFFECTS OF EXCESSIVE HARDSHIP AND PRIVATION. / THIS PUBLIC MONUMENT IS ERECTED AS A TRIBUTE OF RESPECT FOR THE VIRTUES OF AN OFFICER WHOSE LIFE WAS USEFUL/ AND WHOSE DEATH WAS GLORIOUS.

War: Crimean War (1853-1856)
Number Commemorated: 1
Died: 1
Information shown: Rank, regiment, forename, surname, place of birth, date of birth, date of death, place of death, manner of death.

Maker(s): Messrs M'Donald & Co. , Aberdeen prepared the blocks of granite for the die and shaft and transmitted to Forres, Mason
Mr Urquhart - Elgin contractor, Builder
Sponsor Type: private
Sponsored By: Sir James MacGrigor, Director-General of the Army Medical Department.
Additional Cost/Sponsorship Information: Sir James MacGrigor was a friend of James Thomson: he was instrumental in raising funds for the memorial and it was placed on land he owned at Castle Hill after permission to place it on the the original site at Cromarty was refused by the landowner. Inverness Courier - Thursday 28 January 1858 G. W. H. Ross of Cromarty House denied he refused to allow the obelisk in Cromarty. Three sites were offered. The sites wanted by Mr Macgrigor was surrounded by trees and so the obelisk would have been obscured after a few years.