Bob Thoms

Thoms was born in Marylebone, London. His father was part-proprietor of a cricket ground in Middlesex. Thoms attended a "good school", where he learnt Latin and Greek.[1]

Thoms appeared as a player in three first-class cricket matches in 1850 and 1851: one for an Under 36 XI, one for Marylebone Cricket Club and Metropolitan Clubs and one for the All England Eleven.[2] He was a fine fieldsman and an excellent sprinter over 100 yards.[3]

Thoms' long umpiring career lasted from 1863 to 1900 and encompassed 244 first-class matches, including the first two Test matches played in England, between England and Australia at The Oval in 1880 and 1882.[4] When he died, The Times said that he was "the most famous umpire the game has known".[5] The Australian Test captain Joe Darling said, "Thoms was about the only umpire in England who was not afraid of Grace or anyone else."[6] The weekly magazine Cricket said:

He was universally regarded as the umpire of the period, imperturbable, accurate and prompt in his decisions, and a great authority on the laws of the game. Unlike most umpires who, when they have given a decision, decline to argue or discuss the matter, he had a habit of explaining just what had happened, and as he very seldom made a mistake, his comments were always heard with respect and often admiration.[1]

Thoms frequently wrote articles on cricket for the sporting press, "always having something interesting to say in quaint language, which was charming and entirely his own".[1]

He and his wife, the former Elizabeth Constance Farley, had four children, two of whom died in infancy. She died in 1898; he died after a long illness in 1903 at Regent's Park, London.[2][7] They are buried in a family grave on the eastern side of Highgate Cemetery.

Family grave of Robert Arthur Thoms in Highgate Cemetery

• Cricinfo profile (including his Wisden obituary notice)