#HistFicThursdays - Sir Henry Thompson (Spies and Rebels) - When you think your characters are too accomplished, remember these people existed!

For Christmas a couple of years ago, my sister set me this challenge. The story which rose from it is Part Five of my Family Saga, which is only a first draft at the moment with the working title: Spies and Rebels.

Unlike most of my books in this series which reference real people, Spies and Rebels actually include real people from history. One of these was Sir Henry Thompson, whose lovely letter to his daughter was included in the challenge box.

Henry Thompson is best known as a surgeon (no surprises then that I chose to have him as a significant character!), but his was also responsible for a number of advances in other social fields. As a surgeon, he was second-to-none in his field of care and - when Leopold, the first king of Belgium - was suffering from kidney stones, he was immediately sent for. This is where Spies and Rebels picks him up, as the victim of a pickpocket, but whose assailant is caught by none other than one of the titled spies. With the endearing letter as a testimony to the love he had of his children, it was easy to contrive the reason he had chased the thief.

"That, I regret to say, was my fault. I had chased that man for almost a mile after I found him picking my pocket. He would have been terribly disappointed to find there was only two francs in it, but I would not be without it."

"For the cost of two francs? I should not have run a mile for such a sum." Bella laughed, holding a little tighter to his arm. "But perhaps you were right. No man should be allowed to steal another man's belongings, however small."

"That is a far nobler reason perhaps than the one which in truth made me chase him. This purse contains a lock of hair from each of my children."

"I can imagine nothing more special, and no reason more noble. What a beautiful token..."

He had three children, Kate, Herbert, and Helen, to his wife who was the renowned pianist, Kate Loder. The letter in the box is addressed to Kit, which was the affectionate name he used for his eldest daughter, Kate. Henry was responsible for persuading his wife to give up her performing career, a move which seems out of keeping for such a forward-thinking individual, but it is possible that he did this as a result of her paralysis which occurred at about the same time.

But Henry Thompson did far more than surgery. He was one of the strongest advocates of cremation, being a founding member of the board responsible for this social move towards the establishing of crematoriums. He was something of a philosopher, and persevered in his hunt for an understanding of God, which he discussed in his final work, an essay called The Unknown God, in which he stated that there was a god, but he was a remote and disinterested deity - effectively something which set the ball in motion and just watched to see what happened. He also spoke out in favour of reducing the amount of meat people consumed, providing medical evidence to support this and paving the way for vegetarianism as a viable alternative to eating meat.

Another string to his bow was as an author, writing under the name Pen Oliver, and I had a great time incorporating what I supposed could be the inspiration for his 1886 book All But: a Chronicle of Laxenford Life into Spies and Rebels! He was also a pioneer in the newly developed (no pun intended!) field of photography, and something of an artist, too. In short, it seems that there was nothing he was unwilling to try his hand at!

But he claimed his knighthood and baronetcy for yet another thing! This was the promotion and gifting of telescopes to the National Observatory, proving that it didn't matter how creative and skilled you were, if you wanted a title you just had to throw money in the right directions!

If you have never encountered Sir Henry Thompson, you should look him up. He possessed the questioning mind which makes for incredible characters, and a deep care and affection for humanity and their wellbeing... What more could you ask for in a character?!