Thomas Coulson

Letters By Author

Thomas Coulson (1886 - 1971)

Date of letters

16 October 1914 - 24 April 1919

Number of letters

57

Regiments

9th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles 14 October 1914 - December 1914
16th Royal Irish Rifles January 1915 - August 1916
15th Royal Irish Rifles August 1916 - February 1919
2nd Light Brigade, Light Division, Army of the Rhine May 1919 -

Rank

Major

Regimental number
Unknown


Thomas Coulson was born on 9 January 1886 in South Shields, England, the son of Francis Coulson, an iron ship plater and Isabel Brown. In the 1901 Census Coulson is recorded as a ‘Librarian’s Assistant (Books)’ living in South Shields with his mother and siblings. He also held the position of Assistant Librarian in Sunderland before being appointed Branch Library Manager of Falls Road Library on 1 January 1907.

Coulson obtained a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Irish Rifles in October 1914. He was promoted to Captain in the 16th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles in April 1915 and to Major in June 1917. His highly descriptive letters discuss training in Ireland, life in the trenches, and his work as a gas advisor. He resigned from the library staff on 1 June 1919 to continue with ‘special duties’ in the army. His career benefited from the war; in 1917 he states that “it is possible to make progress in the world. I had begun to doubt it while in Belfast.” However he did not survive the war unscathed; as the result of a lachrymatory shell attack in 1916 Coulson permanently lost the sight in his left eye. Throughout his correspondence Coulson makes reference to his ‘special intelligence work’. It is not clear what exactly this involved but he may have used it as a source of inspiration for two novels. In 1930 he wrote ‘Mata Hari: Courtesan and Spy’, which was turned into a motion picture in 1931 starring Greta Garbo and ‘The Queen of Spies: Louise de Bettignies’ in 1935. He also wrote several other books including ‘Franklin Institute 1824-1949’.

Coulson married Madeleine Berthe Julienne Lecat in Hazebrouck, France on 13 October 1917. The witnesses were Nathaniel Hobson of the 3rd Royal Fusiliers, Liverpool and William Grieve Ewart Lieutenant in the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry. Coulson spoke imperfect French and so a translator from the British Army, Martial Seyrès, was also present. Coulson and Madeleine emigrated to the United States of America in 1926. He joined the staff of The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia in 1934 and in the 1940 census his occupation was listed as ‘Radio Director’ living at Woodlawn Avenue, Merchantville, Camden, New Jersey. In 1950 he was appointed Acting Director of the Museum and retired from that post in 1960. He died on 19 March 1971 in Delaware with no immediate descendants.


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