William Thoms

William John Thoms (16 November 1803 – 15 August 1885) was a British writer credited with coining the term "folklore" in 1846. Thoms' investigation of folklore and myth led to a later career of debunking longevity myths, and he was a pioneer demographer. Life He was born on 16 November 1803. Thoms worked as an antiquary, and miscellaneous writer, for many years a clerk in the secretary's office of Chelsea Hospital. He was made a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and became secretary to the Camden Society in 1838. In 1845, he was appointed Clerk to the House of Lords, and subsequently Deputy Librarian at the House of Lords Library. In 1849, he founded the quarterly journal Notes and Queries, which for some years he also edited. Thoms is credited with inventing the term "folklore" in an 1846 letter to the Athenaeum. He invented this compound word to replace the various other terms used at the time, including "popular antiquities" or "popular literature". He was fond of the works of Jacob Grimm, which he considered remarkable.