David Thomson (1914–1988) was a writer and

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

producer. He was known for radio documentaries as well as writing

children's books A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''chi ...

memoirs A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobio ...

and novels.

Early life

David Robert Alexander Thomson was born in British colonial India to Scottish parents. His father served in the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

and was wounded in the

Great War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. As a child, Thomson lived in Scotland, as well as in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

and London, where he attended

University College School University College School, also known as UCS, is a private day school in Frognal, Hampstead, London, England. The school was founded in 1830 by University College London and inherited many of that institution's progressive and secular views. ...

. At the age of eleven, he sustained an eye injury which nearly blinded him. Unable to continue at school, he was sent to the home of his maternal grandmother in

Nairn Nairn (; ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Highland (council area), Highland Council council areas of Scotland, area of Scotland. It is an ancient fishing port and market town around east of Inverness, at the point where the River Nair ...

, Scotland, where he was taught by private tutors. At fourteen, Thomson returned to London and the progressive King Alfred School, London to complete his schooling. As an undergraduate he studied Modern History at

Lincoln College, Oxford Lincoln College (formally, The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints, Lincoln) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Lincoln was founded in 1427 by Richard Flemin ...

. At this time he also started to tutor a daughter of an Anglo-Irish family, the Kirkwoods, at Woodbrook House in County Roscommon, Ireland.

Career

From 1943 to 1969, Thomson worked for the

as a writer and producer of radio documentaries. Many of these programmes, which covered a range of topics in natural history of peoples and places also found a place in his written work, for example ''The People of the Sea'' (1954), on the lore and life of the grey seal in the coastal rural communities of Ireland and Scotland. In 1953-4 he was seconded to

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

to produce radio programmes in France, Liberia and Turkey. In 1964 and 1965, Thomson was the producer of the first three iterations of '' Inventions for Radio'' on BBC's Third Programme. In 1952, David Thomson married Martina Mayne. They had three sons. Among his most notable works are three memoirs: ''Woodbrook'' (1974), reflecting a ten-year period from 1932 when he visited Ireland regularly, tutoring Phoebe Kirkwood; ''In Camden Town'' (1983), describing his life and neighbours in London in the 1950s and 60's; and ''Nairn in Darkness and Light'' (1987), where he revisits his childhood years spent in his mother's mother's home in Scotland. In each of these books, his fine style, elegiac but never sentimental, incorporates vivid historical sketches. His acute and sympathetic approach in seeking the voice of the 'common man', whether in an urban or a rural setting, recalls the poetic documentary approach pioneered in film by

John Grierson John Grierson (26 April 1898 – 19 February 1972) was a Scottish documentary maker, often considered the father of British and Canadian documentary film. In 1926, Grierson coined the term "documentary" in a review of Robert J. Flaherty's '' ...

Bibliography

*''The People of the Sea'' (non-fiction), 1954 *''Daniel'' (novel), 1962 *''Break in the Sun'' (novel), 1965 *''Danny Fox'' (children's story), 1966 *''Danny Fox meets a stranger'' (children's story), 1968 *''The Leaping Hare'' (non fiction with George Ewart Evans), 1972, 'another classic beast-book'. *''Woodbrook'' (memoir), 1974 *''Danny Fox at the Palace'' (children's story), 1976 *''The Irish Journals of Elizabeth Smith; 1840–1850''. *''In Camden Town'' (memoir), 1983. *''Dandiprat's Days'' (novel), 1983 *''Ronan and other stories'' (children's stories), 1984 *''Nairn in Darkness and Light'' (memoir), 1987. Awarded the McVitie's Prize for Scottish writer of the year in 1987, and (posthumously) the NCR Book Award for nonfiction in 1988. Thomson's papers, including BBC scripts and correspondence, are held by the National Library of Scotland.Inventory Acc.10129 Papers of David Thomson (1914-88)
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, David 1914 births 1988 deaths BBC people People educated at University College School