Roy Herbert Thomson

Roy Herbert Thomson, also known as 1st Baron Thomson of Fleet, was a Canadian-born British media mogul and businessman who was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1894. He was the son of Hugh Thomson, a telegraphist turned barber, and Mary Nichol Sylvester. He left school at 14 and worked as a door-to-door salesman, a clerk, and a radio dealer. He started his media career in 1931, when he bought a radio station in North Bay, Ontario, for $201. He then expanded into newspapers, acquiring The Timmins Daily Press in 1934, and later The Scotsman, The Sunday Times, and The Times in the UK. He also established the first commercial television network in Scotland, Scottish Television, and owned several other broadcasting and publishing companies around the world. He formed the Thomson Corporation in 1965, which became one of the largest information and media conglomerates in the world. He was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire in 1964, and was elevated to the peerage as Baron Thomson of Fleet in 1964. He never used his title in Canada, however, and never took up his seat in the House of Lords. He died of a heart attack in 1976 at the age of 82 and was buried in Toronto. He was remembered as one of the most influential and wealthy media tycoons of the 20th century, and a proud Canadian.