Thomas James Finlayson MBE, commonly known as Tommy Finlayson (

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

, 1 May 1938), is a

Gibraltarian Gibraltarians (Spanish: ''gibraltareños'', colloquially: '' llanitos'') are an ethnic group native to Gibraltar, a British overseas territory located near the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea ...

historian. He is also a former

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er and archivist of the Gibraltar Archives. He is the eldest brother of

Clive Finlayson Prof. Clive Finlayson MBE FLS (born 15 January 1955) is a Gibraltarian zoologist, paleoanthropologist and paleontologist. He is the incumbent Director of the Gibraltar National Museum. Finlayson has published various works mainly based on h ...

, the director of the

Gibraltar Museum The Gibraltar National Museum is a national museum of the history, culture and natural history of Gibraltar located within the city centre of the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. Founded in 1930 by the then Governor of Gibraltar, General ...

Early life

Tommy Finlayson was born in Gibraltar on 1 May 1938. His family, of Scottish descent, have been established on The Rock since the early 19th century. When

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

broke out he was evacuated, as was most of the civilian population of Gibraltar, with his family across the

strait A strait is a water body connecting two seas or water basins. The surface water is, for the most part, at the same elevation on both sides and flows through the strait in both directions, even though the topography generally constricts the ...

French Morocco The French protectorate in Morocco, also known as French Morocco, was the period of French colonial rule in Morocco that lasted from 1912 to 1956. The protectorate was officially established 30 March 1912, when Sultan Abd al-Hafid signed the ...

. Only a few weeks later, following the defeat of France and the

armistice with Germany {{Short description, none This is a list of armistices signed by the German Empire (1871–1918) or Nazi Germany (1933–1945). An armistice is a temporary agreement to cease hostilities. The period of an armistice may be used to negotiate a peace t ...

, the French authorities expelled the evacuees which the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

then decided to transfer to London via Gibraltar. Finlayson and his family were taken to London aboard the ''

Athlone Castle Athlone Castle, sometimes known as Adamson Castle, is a castle located in Athlone, County Westmeath, Ireland, dating from the 12th century. History The earliest recorded "castle" of Athlone was a wooden structure built in 1129, by King Tair ...

'' in July 1940. They lived in the Evacuee Centre at the Empire Pool in

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

until they were once again relocated to a camp in

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, located within the historic Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the c ...

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in 1944. Still a young boy, Finlayson attended the

Gibraltar Grammar School Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territory and city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the Atlantic Ocean (Strait of Gibraltar). It has an area of ...

following his

repatriation Repatriation is the return of a thing or person to its or their country of origin, respectively. The term may refer to non-human entities, such as converting a foreign currency into the currency of one's own country, as well as the return of mi ...

to The Rock, once the war had ended. He later studied at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

where he obtained an

honours Honour (Commonwealth English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is a quality of a person that is of both social teaching and personal ethos, that manifests itself as a code of conduct, and has various elements such as valo ...

MA in history.

Professional career

Finlayson later opted for a career in teaching, which he pursued in the United Kingdom and continued in Gibraltar upon his return in 1980.ICC Europe announces Regional Winners of Pepsi ICC Development Programme Awards for 2008
/ref> In 1985, after 25 years of teaching, he was appointed archivist at the Gibraltar Archives by the

Government of Gibraltar His Majesty's Government of Gibraltar is the democratically elected government of the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. The head of state is King Charles III who is represented by the Governor. Elections in Gibraltar are held every four ...

. He maintained this position from the 1980s to the early 2000s. At the same time, he wrote a number of books and articles on the contemporary

history of Gibraltar The history of Gibraltar, a small peninsula on the southern Iberian coast near the entrance of the Mediterranean Sea, spans over 2,900 years. The peninsula was a place of reverence in ancient times, and it later became "one of the most dens ...

. The most notable being ''The Fortress Came First. The story of the civilian population of Gibraltar during the Second World War'' (1990), which was described as "the definitive work on the wartime evacuation of Gibraltarian civilians". In 1993 he was awarded the MBE in the Queen's Birthday honours for his contribution to knowledge of the history of Gibraltar. In 2015 he was appointed Honorary Fellow of the Gibraltar Museum and was also awarded Gibraltar's Medallion of Distinction for his services in recording the history of Gibraltar.

Historical works

His works have been devoted to the contemporary history of Gibraltar: * * * * T J Finlayson Gibraltar Military Fortress or Commercial Colony 2011 , * T J Finlayson Gibraltar and the Spanish Shadow 2014 * T J Finlayson The boundaries of Gibraltar 2018

Cricket

Finlayson has also taken an active part in Gibraltar cricket; as a player, Secretary and formerly Chairman of the

Gibraltar Cricket Association Gibraltar Cricket Board is the official national governing body of the sport of cricket in Gibraltar. Its current headquarters is at 1st Floor, GFSB, Irish Town, Gibraltar. ''Gibraltar Cricket'' is Gibraltar's representative at the International ...

. In March 2009 he received the ''2008 Lifetime Service Award'' by

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global Sports governing body, governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England, and South Africa. In 1965, the body wa ...

Europe in recognition of his services to cricket in Gibraltar.Press release

, 11 March 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Finlayson, Tommy Gibraltarian historians Living people 1938 births Gibraltarian cricketers Members of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Gibraltarian male writers