View source for Thomas Sopwith

{{Short description|English aviation pioneer}}
{{for|other people named Thomas Sopwith|Thomas Sopwith (disambiguation)}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix   = [[Sir]]
| name               = 
| honorific_suffix   = [[CBE]], Hon [[FRAeS]]
| image              = Sopwith 2162905123 40ff396481 o.jpg
| caption            = Sopwith in 1911
| birth_name         = Thomas Octave Murdoch Sopwith
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1888|1|18|df=yes}}
| birth_place        = [[Kensington]], [[London]], United Kingdom
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1989|1|27|1888|1|18|df=yes}}
| death_place        = [[Hampshire]], United Kingdom
| resting_place      = [[Little Somborne]], United Kingdom
| occupation         = [[Aviator]] and businessman
| years_active       = 1910–1980
| organization       = {{ubl|[[Sopwith Aviation Company]]|[[Hawker Aircraft]]|[[Hawker Siddeley]]}}
| spouse             = {{plainlist|
* {{Marriage|Beatrix Hore-Ruthven|1914|1930|end=died}}
* {{Marriage|Phyllis Brodie|1932|1978|end=died}}
}}
| children           = [[Tommy Sopwith (racing driver)|Thomas E.B. Sopwith]]
}}
{{MedalTableTop}}
{{MedalCountry | {{UK}} }}
{{MedalSport | Men's [[ice hockey]]}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Ice Hockey World Championships|European Championships]]}}
{{MedalGold | 1910 | [[Great Britain national ice hockey team|Great Britain]]}}
{{MedalBottom}}
'''Sir Thomas Octave Murdoch Sopwith''', [[Order of the British Empire|CBE]], Hon [[FRAeS]] (18 January 1888&nbsp;– 27 January 1989) was a British [[aviation pioneer]], businessman and [[yacht]]sman.

==Early life==
Sopwith was born in [[Kensington]], London, on 18 January 1888. He was the eighth child and only son of Thomas Sopwith (a civil engineer and managing director of the Spanish Lead Mines Company in [[Linares, Jaén]], Spain) and his wife, Lydia Gertrude Messiter.<ref name="odnb">{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia= [[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]] |url= http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/40056 |title=Sir Thomas Octave Murdoch Sopwith |year= 2004 |doi= 10.1093/ref:odnb/40056 |access-date=6 November 2008 |url-access= subscription }}</ref> He was a grandson of mining engineer [[Thomas Sopwith (geologist)|Thomas Sopwith]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia= [[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]] |url= http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/26033 |title=Thomas Sopwith (1803–1879) |year= 2004 |doi= 10.1093/ref:odnb/26033 |access-date= 9 August 2018 |url-access= subscription }}</ref> He was educated at [[Cottesmore School]] in [[Hove]] and at Seafield Park engineering college in [[Hill Head]].<ref>{{citation |title=The Encyclopædia Britannica |volume=20 |year=1929}}</ref>

On 30 July 1898, when he was ten years old and on a family holiday at the [[Isle of Lismore]] near [[Oban]] in Scotland, a gun lying across young Thomas's knee went off, killing his father. This accident haunted Sopwith for the rest of his life.<ref name="odnb"/>

Sopwith was interested in motor cycles, and he took part in the 100-mile Tricar trial in 1904, where he was one of four medal winners.<ref>{{Citation |series=Reminiscences of Motor Cycling |title=Ixion |publisher=EP |url= http://www.goodkarmaproductions.com/HTML/PDF/IXION.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140508061936/http://www.goodkarmaproductions.com/HTML/PDF/IXION.pdf |archive-date=8 May 2014 |df=dmy-all}}.</ref> He also tried ballooning, his first ascent being in [[Charles Rolls|C.S. Rolls']] balloon in June 1906.<ref name="BMA">{{Citation |title=The Birth of Military Aviation |first=Hugh |last=Driver |publisher=Royal Historical Society |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-86193-234-4}}.</ref> Together with Phil Paddon, he bought his own balloon from [[Short Brothers]].<ref name="BMA"/> For a while, he was in business with Phil Paddon selling automobiles as Paddon & Sopwith on [[Albemarle Street]] in [[Piccadilly]], London.<ref name="BMA"/>

In his youth, he was an expert [[Ice skating|ice skater]] and played in [[Goaltender|goal]] during the [[Princes Ice Hockey Club]]'s 1908 match with C.P.P. Paris and during the 1909–10 season.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=European Hockey |url=http://www.eurohockey.net/players/show_player.cgi?serial=98083 |title=Thomas Sopwith&nbsp;– player profile and career stats |access-date=29 November 2007}}</ref> He was also a member of the [[Great Britain national ice hockey team]] that won the gold medal at the first [[Ice Hockey European Championships|European Championships]] [[1910 Ice Hockey European Championship|in 1910]].<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Ice Hockey Journalists |place=UK |url=http://www.ihjuk.co.uk/british_rosters/1910.htm |title=Great Britain Roster 1910 |access-date=29 November 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513015834/http://www.ihjuk.co.uk/british_rosters/1910.htm |archive-date=13 May 2008 }}</ref>

==Career in aviation==
{{More citations needed section|date=September 2021}}
[[File:Tom Sopwith (LOC).jpg|thumb|Thomas Sopwith at the controls of his [[Howard Wright 1910 Biplane]]]]

Sopwith became interested in flying after seeing [[John Moisant]] flying the first cross-[[English Channel|Channel]] passenger flight. His first flight was with [[Gustave Blondeau]] in a [[Henry Farman|Farman]] at [[Brooklands]]. He soon taught himself to fly on a [[Howard Wright Avis]] monoplane and took to the air on his own for the first time on 22 October 1910. He crashed after travelling about 300 yards (275 m), but soon improved, and on 22 November was awarded [[Royal Aero Club]] Aviation Certificate No. 31, flying a [[Howard Wright 1910 Biplane]].

On 18 December 1910, Sopwith won the £4000 [[Maurice de Forest#Motoring and aviation|Baron de Forest Prize]] for the longest flight from England to the Continent in a British-built aeroplane, flying 169&nbsp;miles (272&nbsp;km) in 3 hours 40 minutes. He used the winnings to set up the Sopwith School of Flying at Brooklands.

On 28 June 1911, as the [[RMS Olympic]] was leaving [[New York City]] on her eastbound maiden voyage, Sopwith flew up to the Olympic, intending to drop a package of last minute supplies destined for passenger [[Washington Atlee Burpee]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-06-28 |title=1911: A Trailblazing Plane-to-Ship Delivery Takes Place on the Hudson River |url=https://transportationhistory.org/2021/06/28/1911-a-trailblazing-plane-to-ship-delivery-takes-place-on-the-hudson-river/ |access-date=2025-07-06 |website=Transportation History |language=en}}</ref> However, the package narrowly missed the deck, falling into the Hudson River.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRpiVGn1ptQ |title=Olympic's Maiden Return Voyage - June 28th - July 5th, 1911 |date=2025-07-05 |last=Titanic: Honor and Glory |access-date=2025-07-06 |via=YouTube}}</ref>

In June 1912, Sopwith, along with Fred Sigrist and others, set up the [[Sopwith Aviation Company]], initially at Brooklands.<ref>{{Citation |contribution=The ABC Motor Cycle |title=The Motor Cycle |date=19 December 1918 |page=541}}.</ref> On 24 October 1912 using a [[Wright Model B]] completely rebuilt by Sopwith and fitted with an [[ABC Motors|ABC]] 40&nbsp;hp engine,<ref>{{Citation |title=The Sopwith-Wright biplane |newspaper=Flight magazine |date=23 November 1912 |pages=1075–79 |url= http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1912/1912%20-%201078.html}}.</ref> [[Harry Hawker]] took the British Michelin Endurance prize with a flight of 8h 23m.

Sopwith Aviation got its first military aircraft order in November 1912, and in December moved to larger premises in Canbury Park Road, [[Kingston upon Thames]]. The site of the factory is now a private gated housing estate. A small section of the original building still exists at the junction of Elm Crescent and Canbury Park Road; white painted bay windows can be seen extending from the building to allow as much light as possible to enter the large room in which Sopwith made blueprints for his aircraft designs.

The company produced more than 18,000&nbsp;[[World War I]] aircraft for the allied forces, including 5747 of the [[Sopwith Camel]] single-seat fighter. Sopwith was awarded the [[Order of the British Empire|CBE]] in 1918.

Bankrupted after the war by punitive anti-profiteering taxes and a failed venture into motorcycle manufacturing, he re-entered the aviation business in 1920 with a new firm named after his chief engineer and test pilot, Harry Hawker. Sopwith became chairman of the new firm, [[Hawker Aircraft]].

He became a [[Knight Bachelor]] in 1953. After the nationalisation in 1977 of the aviation interests of what was by then [[Hawker Siddeley]], he continued to work as a consultant to the company until 1980.

In 1979, Sopwith was inducted into the [[International Air & Space Hall of Fame]] at the [[San Diego Air & Space Museum]].<ref>Sprekelmeyer, Linda, editor. ''These We Honor: The International Aerospace Hall of Fame''. Donning Co. Publishers, 2006. {{ISBN|978-1-57864-397-4}}.</ref> He was a member of the [[Air Squadron]] flying club.

==Yachting==
Sopwith challenged the [[America's Cup]] with his [[J-class yacht]]s, ''[[Endeavour (yacht)|Endeavour]]'', in 1934, and with ''[[Endeavour II (yacht)|Endeavour II]]'' in 1937. Both yachts were designed by [[Charles Ernest Nicholson|Charles E. Nicholson]]. Sopwith funded, organised and helmed the yachts. He did not win the Cup but he became a Cup legend by nearly winning it in 1934. He was inducted into the [[America's Cup Hall of Fame]] in 1995.

In 1927 Sopwith commissioned yacht builders [[Charles Ernest Nicholson|Camper and Nicholsons]] to build a luxury motor yacht he named ''Vita''. She was sold in 1929 to [[Sir John Shelley-Rolls, 6th Baronet|Sir John Shelley-Rolls]] who renamed her ''Alastor''.<ref>{{Citation |url= http://www.irishwrecksonline.net/details/Alastor93.htm |publisher= Irish Wrecks On-Line |title=Alastor MY (No. 93)}}.</ref> During [[World War II]] the [[Royal Navy]] commandeered her to ferry provisions to Navy vessels moored at the entrance to [[Strangford Lough]]. In 1946 a fire gutted her and she sank in [[Ringhaddy]] Sound in Strangford Lough.<ref>{{Citation |url= http://www.divernet.com/cgi-bin/articles.pl?id=1294&sc=&ac=d |publisher=Diver net |title=Wreck Tour: 80, The Alastor|date=13 December 2021 }}{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}.</ref>

In 1937 Sopwith received the yacht ''[[HNoMY Norge|Philante]]'', also built for him by Camper and Nicholsons. In the [[World War II|Second World War]] the ship was requisitioned by the Royal Navy and used as a convoy escort vessel, HMS ''Philante''. After the war the vessel was returned to Sopwith and he sold her to Norway in 1947, to become the royal yacht of the [[Haakon VII of Norway|King of Norway]].

==Personal life==
[[File:Sopwith's grave at Little Somborne.jpg|thumb|upright|Sopwith's gravestone in [[Little Somborne]]]]
Sopwith married Beatrice Hore-Ruthven (1871–1930) in 1914, but they had no children. Beatrice was the daughter of Walter Hore-Ruthven, who was created [[Baron Ruthven of Gowrie]] in 1919. After Beatrice's death, he married Phyllis Brodie Gordon (1892–1978) in 1932. Their son, [[Tommy Sopwith (racing driver)|Thomas Edward Brodie Sopwith]], had success in car racing.

Sopwith's house in [[Mayfair]] at No. 46 [[Green Street, Mayfair|Green Street]], where he lived from 1934 until 1940, has a [[blue plaque]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://openplaques.org/plaques/366|title=Thomas Sopwith Blue Plaque|publisher=Open plaques|access-date=13 May 2013}}</ref> In 1940, he moved to [[Warfield Hall]] in Berkshire, which he had acquired the previous year.<ref name="heritage">{{Cite web|url=http://www.warfieldparishcouncil.org.uk/rsc/Heritage1.pdf|title=Heritage Trail|publisher=Warfield Parish Council|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130402063634/http://www.warfieldparishcouncil.org.uk/rsc/Heritage1.pdf|archive-date=2 April 2013|url-status=usurped|access-date=3 August 2013|place=UK|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Sopwith's 100th birthday was marked by a [[flypast]] of military aircraft over his home, Compton Manor in [[King's Somborne]], Hampshire.{{Citation needed|date=September 2018}} He died in Hampshire on 27 January 1989, nine days after his 101st birthday. His grave and that of his second wife (Phyllis Brodie) are in the churchyard of [[All Saints Church, Little Somborne]], near [[Winchester]].

==Legacy and tributes==
[[File:Kingston library, Sir Thomas Octave Murdoch Sopwith bust.jpg|thumb|upright|Bust of Sopwith at Kingston Library, London]]
His authorised biography is ''Pure Luck'' (2005) by Alan Bramson, with a foreword by the [[Charles, Prince of Wales|Prince of Wales]] ({{ISBN|1-85260-263-5}}). Sir Thomas was interviewed on 8 November 1978 by the art historian Anna Malinovska; the interview is reproduced in ''Voices in Flight'', 2006.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}}

A bronze bust of Sopwith was unveiled by his son at Kingston Library, London, on 26 September 2014. The sculptor was Ambrose Barber, a former executive of Hawker. Earlier in the same year, a plaque was unveiled at [[Canbury Gardens]] in [[Kingston upon Thames]] by Sopwith's son to commemorate the Sopwith aviation company.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kingston.gov.uk/news/article/197/work_of_art_commemorates_kingston_aviation_figurehead|title=Work of art commemorates Kingston aviation figurehead|date=26 September 2014|website=The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames|access-date=28 November 2019}}</ref>

Sopwith Way in Kingston upon Thames was named after Thomas Sopwith. Sopwith Road, one of the roads built on the site of the former [[Heston Aerodrome]], is also named after him. Sopwith Road in Warfield (Bracknell, Berkshire), located close to his former home Warfield Hall and the location of the newly built Woodhurst school (part of Warfield CE Primary School), is also named after him.

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=33em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{LOCFC|thomassopwith/}}
* {{Citation |url= http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/sopwith.html |title=Sopwith |publisher=Monash University}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080828084402/http://www.johnwmills2.plus.com/PORTRAIT%20PAGES/Tommy%20Sopwith.htm Portrait Sculpture of Thomas Sopwith]
* [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ggbain.09634 Library of Congress Picture of Tom Sopwith]
* [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ggbain.09259 Library of Congress Picture of Tom Sopwith on Airplane]

{{Sopwith Aviation Company aircraft}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sopwith, Thomas}}
[[Category:1888 births]]
[[Category:1989 deaths]]
[[Category:America's Cup sailors]]
[[Category:Aviation history of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:British aviation pioneers]]
[[Category:History of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames]]
[[Category:Burials in Hampshire]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Members of the Early Birds of Aviation]]
[[Category:English aerospace engineers]]
[[Category:English aviators]]
[[Category:English ice hockey players]]
[[Category:English male sailors (sport)]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:People from Kensington]]
[[Category:British men centenarians]]