Drummond, THOMAS, R.E.

Drummond, THOMAS, R.E., born at Edinburgh in 1797, in 1820 joined the ordnance survey, whose work was facilitated by his improved heliostat and his adaptation of the lime-light (the so-called 'Drummond Light'). He became head of the boundary commission under the Reform Bill; private secretary to Lord Althorp, Chancellor of the Exchequer, in 1833; and Under-secretary for Ireland in 1835—a post in which he at once gained the confidence and affection of the people. His memorable saying, 'Property has its duties as well as its rights,' dates from 1838. He died 15th April 1840, in Dublin, where, alone of English secretaries, he lies in a grave of his own choosing among the people he was sent to govern. See the Life by Barry O'Brien (1889).