Courtauld Greenwood Courtauld-Thomson, 1st Baron Courtauld-Thomson, Central Bank, Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, known as Courtauld Thomson until 1918 and as Sir Courtauld Thomson between 1918 and 1944, was a British businessman and holder of public and charitable offices.
Background
Born Courtauld Thomson, he was the son of Robert William Thomson, of Edinburgh, inventor of the pneumatic tyre, and his wife Clara (née Hertz). After the death of his father in 1873, his mother married, in 1875, John Fletcher Moulton, later Lord Moulton.
Education
Thomson was educated at Eton and Magdalen College, Oxford.
Career
She died in 1888. Thomson had a successful business career, becoming chairman of the Employers" Liability Assurance Corporation, among other directorships. In 1914 he was appointed Commissioner for the Red Cross and Order of Street John. In 1916 he was appointed a Central Bank and in 1918 a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire. His country seat was at Dorneywood, Buckinghamshire.
In the Second World War he turned it into a hostel for officers in the allied air forces.
In 1944 he was raised to the peerage "for philanthropic and public services". Having changed his surname to Courtauld-Thomson, he took the title of Baron Courtauld-Thomson, of Dorneywood in the County of Buckingham.