Nicholas Tomalm
Sir: May I for the record, correct a statement about my nephew Nicholas Tomalin in your October 27 issue? He was not of immigrant stock (his greatgrandfather's marriage to a German girl is hardly in that category), neither had he any Jewish connection. The Tomalins are an old Lincolnshire family and since the discovery of the Heywood play we think we must be descended from King Arthur's illegitimate son Tom a Lincoln, which might have amused Nicholas had he lived to read it.
The same great-grandfather, while visiting Germany, met Dr Jaeger, a scientist who at the height of the Darwinian vogue propagated the theory of the superiority for clothing of animal fibres (wool, camelhair etc) over vegetable (cotton, linen). Fired with enthusiasm he returned to England and founded a company to put it into practice.
Humphrey Tomalin Snapelands, Lodsworth, near Petworth, Sussex
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