Lewis Hartland Thomas, March 1940 – February 2026

Lewis Thomas was, with William “Twink” Allen, one of the two founders of Vets for Hunting, in 2000.  The organization subsequently changed its name to the Veterinary Association for Wildlife Management (VAWM).  This change was intended to show that the remit of the organization was not limited to wildlife management by hunting, which was particularly important when an informed veterinary voice was needed on the subject of badger culling.  It was also intended to show that the Association’s interest was not limited to the activity of hunting, but extended to its purpose.  Lewis Thomas accepted the change when it was proposed, but he did not hide his reluctance to do so: an intellectual purist, he liked to make his case in the most forthright terms available.

Lewis Hartland Thomas was born in Bath, where his mother, Alex, was an evacuee from London during the war.  His father, Mark Hartland Thomas, was an architect who was appointed to an important position in preparations for the Festival of Britain in 1951, and received the Order of the British Empire in recognition of his contributions to it.

Back in London, he attended Westminster School, then went up to Trinity College, Dublin, briefly to read Classics.  Questioned by his father, whom he greatly respected, on what he planned to do with his degree, he first changed his course at Trinity College to zoology, then gained a place at Cambridge to read Veterinary Medicine.

The family moved to Kent whilst he was a teenager, where he met Rosemary, who was to be his wife of 60 years.  He and Rosemary spent the early part of their marriage in Cambridge, where Lewis also rowed for his college.

Upon graduation, Lewis went into mixed practice, briefly joining Messrs Gilbert, Kirkwood and Gale in Newbury.  But he soon switched to an academic career, taking a position at the Institute for the Research on Animal Diseases, at Compton, Berkshire.  There, he worked on the pathology of bovine mastitis and on bovine respiratory syncytial virus, earning his doctorate, and becoming a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists.

It was one of his many published letters, in this case to The Times, which was the catalyst for the formation of Vets for Hunting.  Twink Allen read it, and thought it so articulate that he made contact with him to arrange the first vets’ meeting at his research unit in Cambridge.

In retirement, Lewis threw himself into the work of Vets for Hunting and the VAWM.  He organized two successful conferences on the subject of wildlife management in London, attracting eminent speakers and delegates, putting on show the intellectual ballast that supports the case for hunting with hounds.  He was an indefatigable writer of letters to newspapers and politicians, repeatedly making the case that hunting with hounds was better for the welfare of the quarry species than any other method of management.  No VAWM committee meeting was complete without a report of his most recent correspondence with the Secretary of State.

He was a keen fly fisher, with a beat on the Kennet above Hungerford, where his regular guests included the Newmarket horse vet and long-serving Treasurer of the VAWM, Richard Greenwood.  He sang in his church choir.  He did not ride, but was an enthusiastic follower of hounds, and his son, Charlie, went into hunt service; having started as professional whipper-in at the Vine and Craven Hunt, last year he was made a joint-master of it.  Lewis and Rosemary gave a lawn meet for Charlie’s hounds just last season.

It was only his responsibility for caring for Rosemary, and his own failing health that finally began to limit him.  He felt cheated that in old age he did not reap the benefit of a daily fifteen-mile round trip to work on his bicycle for almost all his working life.  But he never lost his fighting spirit.

He leaves his wife Rosemary, his son Charlie, an estate agent, and his daughter Lucy, a veterinary surgeon.

Picture shows Lewis Thomas with fellow member of the VAWM, the late Ian Addison, at a meeting of the Duke of Beaufort’s hounds in 2007.