SPRATTON LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY

Thomas was born on 1 July 1882, the son of Captain Theophilus Gist of the 7th Hussars and Anna Maria Susannah (née Hobson) and brother to Frank Gist. Until 1890 the family lived at Spratton Hall but when Thomas's father died they moved first to Brighton and Hove and then to Charlton House in Tetbury, Gloucestershire. At some stage the two brothers moved back to Spratton and bought the Manor House in Manor Road. Their mother lived with them and was very generous towards the Boy Scouts, providing them with equipment, accommodation and food for their camping expeditions. Some of the villagers had very fond memories of her.*

When conscription was introduced in 1916, Thomas was 34 years of age and would normally have been mobilized into a regiment. However, we find that he worked as a volunteer ambulance driver for the Red Cross in Italy and in France from September 1916 to March 1919. He was awarded the Croix de Guerre.

Thomas Gist died in France on 14 June 1940 and left his money to his older brother Frank, suggesting that he was single at the time of his death.

 *”Memories of Old Spratton” by Enid Jarvis and Michael Heaton.
Published by Spratton Local History Society 2007.