Career
Foreign other people with the same name see "Robert Thom (disambiguation)"
Thom worked in the piece goods department of Jardine, Matheson & Company where he acquired a knowledge of the Chinese language. When hostilities began between the British and the ruling Chinese Qing Dynasty in late 1839, Thom, along with other Chinese translators including John Robert Morrison and Karl Gützlaff provided the necessary language interface between the warring factions. In July 1840 during the First Opium War, Thom sailed north from Canton aboard HMS Blonde as translator to Captain Thomas Bourchier.
The ship anchored outside Namoy (modern day Kinmen, formerly also known as Quemoy) to deliver a letter from British Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston laying out demands for the opening of China to foreign trade.
After Bourchier noticed cannons being mounted on a nearby fort, Thom rowed towards the shore in a small boat carrying a placard warning that if the ship was fired on Bourchier would retaliate. A number of Chinese from a mob gathered on the shore swam towards Thom"s boat and he narrowly missed being hit by an arrow and musket fire as he shouted out the warning written on the placard.
Bourchier made good on his promise and shelled the fort and nearby warships before eventually withdrawing. Thom later served as British Consul in Ningpo where he died on September 14, 1846.
