William John Thoms (16 November 1803 – 15 August 1885) was a British writer credited with coining the term "

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, rangin ...

" in 1846. Thoms's investigation of folklore and myth led to a later career of debunking longevity myths, and he was a pioneer demographer.

Life

He was born on 16 November 1803. Thoms worked as an

antiquary An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifacts, archaeological and historic si ...

, and miscellaneous writer, for many years a clerk in the secretary's office of

Chelsea Hospital The Royal Hospital Chelsea is a retirement home and nursing home for some 300 veterans of the British Army. Founded as an almshouse, the ancient sense of the word "hospital", it is a site located on Royal Hospital Road in Chelsea. It is an in ...

. He was made a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and became secretary to the

Camden Society The Camden Society was a text publication society founded in London in 1838 to publish early historical and literary materials, both unpublished manuscripts and new editions of rare printed books. It was named after the 16th-century antiquary an ...

in 1838. In 1845, he was appointed Clerk to the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...

, and subsequently Deputy Librarian at the

House of Lords Library The House of Lords Library is the library and information resource of the House of Lords, the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It provides Members of the House and their staff with books, Parliamentary material and referen ...

. In 1849, he founded the quarterly journal ''

Notes and Queries ''Notes and Queries'', also styled ''Notes & Queries'', is a long-running quarterly scholarly journal that publishes short articles related to "English language and literature, lexicography, history, and scholarly antiquarianism".From the inner ...

'', which for some years he also edited. Thoms is credited with inventing the term "

" in an 1846 letter to the '' Athenaeum''. He invented this compound word to replace the various other terms used at the time, including "popular antiquities" or "popular literature". He was fond of the works of

Jacob Grimm Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm (4 January 1785 – 20 September 1863), also known as Ludwig Karl, was a German author, linguist, philologist, jurist, and folklorist. He is known as the discoverer of Grimm's law of linguistics, the co-author of t ...

, which he considered remarkable. His first book, ''Early Prose Romances'' (3 vol. 1827-1828), was published with encouragement from Francis Douce, and gave versions of English tales such as "Robert the Devyl, Thomas a Reading, Friar Bacon, Friar Rush, Virgilius, Robin Hood, George a Green, Tom a Lincolne, Helyas, and Dr. Faustus". Among his publications are ''Lays and Legends'' (1834), ''The Book of the Court'' (1838), ''Gammer Gurton's Famous Histories'' (1846), ''Gammer Gurton's Pleasant Stories'' (1848). He also edited Stow's ''Survey of London'' in 1842. Thoms was a leading member of the Folklore Society, founded in 1878, though his involvement in its establishment is poorly investigated. In the 1870s, William Thoms began investigating claims to "ultra-centenarianism." He is credited with first formulating the concept that claims of very old age are typically exaggerated. His book ''Human Longevity: Its Facts and Fictions'' (1873) laid down some rules for validating longevity claims. Thoms died on 15 August 1885 and is buried in

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is a London cemetery, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries. Establ ...

, London.

Works

Thoms is associated with many publications, as editor, compiler or author. He used the pseudonym Ambrose Merton for several works. He began a column titled Folk-Lore in

Charles Wentworth Dilke Charles Wentworth Dilke (1789–1864) was an English liberal critic and writer on literature. Professional life He served for many years in the Navy Pay-Office, on retiring from which in 1830 he devoted himself to literary pursuits. Lit ...

's ''Athenaeum'' in 1846. The same publisher encouraged him to begin ''Notes and Queries'' and was editor of this until 1872. His early attempt to produce a collection of folk tales, advertised as "Folk-Lore of England", did not appear, but his later antiquarian publications sometimes reprinted his articles and material from subscribers. The following is an incomplete list of works: * ''The Book of the Court'', 1838 * ''Anecdotes and Traditions illustrative of Early English History and Literature from Manuscript Sources'', Camden Society 1839. * Stow's ''Survey of London'' (London, 8vo), 1842 ed. * In he prepared for the Early English Poetry series (Percy Society) ''The History of Reynard the Fox,'' 1844, (Caxton in 1481) * ''Gammer Gurton's Famous Histories of Sir Guy of Warwick, Sir Bevis of Hampton, Tom Hickathrift, Friar Bacon, Robin Hood, and the King and the Cobbler'' (Westminster, 16mo) * ''Gammer Gurton's Pleasant Stories of Patient Grissel, the Princess Rosetta, and Robin Goodfellow, and ballads of the Beggar's Daughter, the Babes in the Wood, and Fair Rosamond'' (Westminster, 16mo). * ''Primeval Antiquities of Denmark'' London, 1849. translating Jens Jacob Asmussen Worsaae * ''The Longevity of Man. Its Facts and Its Fictions. With a prefatory letter to Prof. Owen, C.B., F.R.S. on the limits and frequency of exceptional cases.'' London: F. Norgate, 1879.

References

External links

* *
Intro to folklore

''The old story books of England'', 1845
* Roper, Jonathan (2007). "Thoms and the Unachieved "Folk-Lore of England"". ''Folklore''. 118 (2): 203–216. doi:10.1080/00155870701340035.

ISSN An International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) is an eight-digit serial number used to uniquely identify a serial publication, such as a magazine. The ISSN is especially helpful in distinguishing between serials with the same title. ISSNs a ...

0015-587X. S2CID 161251619. ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Thoms, William 1803 births 1885 deaths English folklorists Burials at Brompton Cemetery Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Folklorists

Life

Works

See also

References

External links