The Origin of Tommy Atkins

Part of my PhD research involves scanning through some 70,000 newspaper articles that contain the phrase 'Tommy Atkins' between 1896 and 1926 to identify articles relevant to my thesis. I have written software to aid in this, as well as utilising a stream deck (a Godsend!) — and I even have a pedal underneath my desk so I can flip through them. However, there are a number of hurdles in the papers themselves. There was, for example, a surprisingly high number of racehorses called 'Tommy Atkins' during the period, but without a doubt the biggest bugbear is that every few months, some bright spark of a journalist decided to use the 'origin of Tommy Atkins' as filler. These articles inevitably prompt readers to write in, stating that the journalist has it all wrong and offering an alternative explanation. To make matters worse, filler articles like these tended to be highly syndicated in regional papers, and the whole thing repeats.

I have lost count of the number of explanations given, and while I don't have a definite answer to Tommy Atkins' origin, I can confidently rule out many of the explanations offered and share what I do know.

I am going to start with one explanation that appears, at the time of writing, on the Wikipedia page for Tommy Atkins, and has been used on other websites, such as FindMyPast. It goes as follows:

The Origin of the term is a subject of debate, but it is known to have been used as early as 1743. A letter sent from Jamaica about a mutiny amongst the troops says "except for those from N. America ye Marines and Tommy Atkins behaved splendidly".¹

The source is John Laffin's 1966 book, Tommy Atkins: The Story of the English Soldier. It is actually misquoted, as this is what Laffin actually wrote:

The Origin of the term is a subject of debate, but it is known to have been used as early as 1743. A letter sent from Jamaica about a mutiny amongst the troops says "except for those from N. America [mostly Irish papists] ye Marines and Tommy Atkins behaved splendidly".²

Laffin's book falls into that category of literature that can be summed up in one word — awful; but to be fair, he is speculating at this point, and he did cite his source. Nevertheless, the clause '[mostly Irish papists]' is a major red flag.

The source of this quote is the Soldier Magazine from April 1949, and I have been able to track down that very issue.

And as you can see, the article is being used as filler. As someone very interested in Soldiers' Journalism of the First World War, seeing the Soldier's Magazine is interesting as an insight into how the medium evolved. In some ways these 1940s magazine are similar to their earlier counterparts: light filler, lots of humour, but a significant difference is there is a lot more focus on the opposite sex (a topic for another day), but it's safe to say that the magazine provides light reading — it's certainly not academic in nature (I have added the answers to the feature 'How much do you know?' to the bottom of this article).

Regarding the Jamaican story, I can find no other references to either the existence of the letter or to Tommy Atkins being used as a sobriquet for the soldier at that time. But I thought I would see if I could utilise the words of the red flag to find anything else. And reader, I did.

It first appeared in the Daily Telegraph in December 1937. The paper had recently run an 'Origins of Tommy Atkins' filler piece, which prompted Edward E. Burgess, F.R.S.A. (Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts) to write to the editor, saying he had a letter in his possession, dated 1743, addressed from Jamaica, in which an 'Anglo-Irish officer, gave a vivid and thrilling description of a mutiny among the hired soldiers' which was then followed by the quote, verbatim, above. He also took the opportunity to take a swipe at historians by saying, 'So much for the modern habit of dogmatic finality on the part of our would-be historians'.³

So, was Burgess a trustworthy source? More digging led to the discovery that Burgess wrote a few letters to various newspapers, which not only give insight into what else he thought of the Irish, but also show that he seemed to take particular issue with Hull Art Gallery.⁴ He lived in Leeds and, along with his brother, ran W. and E. Burgess Auctioneers and Valuers, providing services to the trade.⁵ Given that there are no other mentions of this letter, story, or Atkins being used as a nickname in this period in any other sources, the only 'evidence' supporting this claim is the words of an antique dealer purporting to have a valuable letter in his possession. I am more than happy to be proved wrong, but for now, this line of enquiry is going on the scrapheap.

Another couple of claims to the origins of Thomas Atkins that frequently did the rounds suggested it was the name of a heroic soldier in Lucknow in 1857. An alternative suggests the name was chosen by the Duke of Wellington in 1843, but both of these theories go straight onto the scrapheap as the term was in use much earlier, as shown below.

The most common thread across all variations of the origin story is that it was a sample name used in specimen forms in the soldier's small book, which contained his personal information and a record of his service, among other details. For the soldier, it was an essential document as his pay and any pensions were calculated from it.

When I first started enquiring about the existence of said specimen forms in 2024, an intermediate problem sprang up. From those I questioned, no one could actually recall seeing one with the name Thomas Atkins on it. To be fair, these were very casual enquiries, and I've referred before on this site to 'file and folder history' — that is, the history of the admin of the army is overshadowed by the drum and trumpet brigade. I am sure there are a plethora of examples in the archives.

Earlier this summer, browsing a well-known auction site, I spat my coffee out (I'll admit I don't get out enough!) and hit the buy button immediately when I saw this:

This small book belonged to Bombardier Alexander Frederick Cowper (83512), Royal Artillery, who served between 1891 and 1903. In addition, the book contained certificates and other particulars outlining his entire military career.

With physical evidence that it had been used on specimen forms, the next question was: when did it first begin to be used? From my PhD research, I knew Atkins was used as a nickname for the soldier by the 1850s, long before Kipling wrote his Barrack Room tales. Starting my search in 1850, I found in a copy in the December issue of the Bankers Magazine an article titled 'Bookkeeping for the Army' which mentioned an army circular issue where the specimen name was given as Thomas Atkins.⁶

Going back further, I found several example specimen forms with the name Thomas Atkins in the King's Regulations of 1837, as shown in Fig. 4.

Around the same time, such forms appear in a book entitled The Enlisting, Discharging, and Pensioning of Soldiers.⁷

Going back even further, I can find no case, or even a mention of a 'Thomas Atkins' in the 1822 General Orders, the 1807 Orders, or the 1804 Regs.⁸ This suggests the name had to appear in the window between 1823 and 1837.

I believed the sample date used on the form, 1829, was important, and using that led to a reference in A History of the British Army by Sir John William Fortescue (1859-1933), which states that 'Tommy Atkins' was a fictitious name invented by a War Office clerk in 1829.⁹ Furthermore, following the footnote led to the thrilling, multivolume 1869 tome: Military Forces of the Crown: Their Administration and Government. The book was written by barrister, historian, and Secretary of the War Department, Charles Matthew Clode (1818-1893), a work that shows that 'file and folder history' was once an art form, as it lists in detail the constitutional history of the army from the year 1688. Clode informs us that the soldiers were to be provided with a small book (familiarly known to the service as 'Tommy Atkins') to show their age, date of enlistment, and actual state of accounts. This system was introduced by the War Office Regulations of 24 November 1829, under Lord Henry Hardinge (1785-1856), then Secretary for War. For good measure, Clode also informs us that the exact instruction was War Office Circular (289), Vol. 5, MS. Regulations, p.231.¹⁰

Now, as mentioned at the start, I don't have a definite answer — this is as far as I have been able to go. But given the level of detail and the credentials of those involved, I think this is pretty close to being able to wrap it up.

But the following remains in doubt. First, was there ever a real Tommy Atkins, or, as Fortescue said, was it the creation of a war office clerk? Sir Harold Dillon (1844-1932), 17th Viscount Dillon and leading historian of arms and armour, certainly thought Atkins was real, and made a compelling case in the August 1889 edition of the United Service Magazine, describing a Tommy Atkins born in the Parish of St. Mary Portsmouth in 1789, enrolled in 1806, who was present at the battle of Waterloo. However, Dillon also asks us to make some leaps of faith, and it fits a bit too neatly into what is found on the specimen forms.¹¹ It is also one of many such similar offerings. Colonel Robert Holden MacKenzie (1855-1916) provides an equally convincing rebuttal of Dillon's explanation, adding that the real Tommy Atkins was in fact a Gunner in the Royal Artillery who had a knack for accountancy.¹² I have been unable to verify either claim, which may in part be due to my reliance on digitised records. All I can say is that Thomas Atkins was not an uncommon name, and, from checking records, there was no shortage of Tommy Atkins in the army during the period, and therefore no shortage of 'real' Tommy Atkins to choose from. However, neither wanting to enter the realms of speculation nor wishing to tease, I have noticed the tiniest slither of a hint (enough for me not to be able to close the book, but not enough for me to risk stating what it is) that the name might have been based on a real person — but that Atkins certainly wasn't of the rank and file. As it stands, and given how riveting it must have been to work at the War Office, my current belief leans toward 'Tommy Atkins' being a fabrication, but if my path crosses the right archives in the future, that supposition may change.

Finally, I've mentioned that I've been able to rule out 1804 and 1807 as origin years, and that there's strong evidence in support of 1829. The number of origin stories that cite 1815 is hard to ignore. Evidence in support of the name being used before 1829 comes from A.L. Kipling (unknown) writing for the Bulletin of the Military Historical Society in 1957. He states that he has come across a small book in the RAMC Museum in Crookham that belonged to Thomas Fisher of the 14th Foot, born in 1796, who attested in 1813. The book contains sample forms, and he gives a manuscript (not original) of the form from the first page, which is as follows:

He goes on to state that the entries its owner filled out begin in 1824 — four years before our November 1829 date.¹³ I have no reason to doubt A.L. Kipling. Still, my first thought after uncovering this, considering all the above, is: a new instruction was issued in 1829 stating that all soldiers were to have a small book, outlining their entire career from entry to discharge. Which leads to the question: what happens with all the soldiers currently serving without one? Surely the obvious answer is to issue the book to them and have them fill it out retrospectively. Which I believe is what A.L. Kipling has found, especially as while the entries start in 1824, they end in 1831 — two years after our 1829 date.

It would be nice to see said small book, which may not be a straightforward prospect, given that Kipling is speaking of an item in a museum over 70 years ago, and items in collections change and move. The RAMC museum, at the time of writing, is currently closed as it moves to new premises — I have had no response to my enquiries. However, this cannot be the only small book from the period to survive, so if you know of any others that would confirm the earlier date, then please get in contact.

The promised answers to the Soldier's Magazine quiz