Alex Thomson of the Revenue Cutter "Alert"

The stone in Duncan Street Cemetery, Greenock marks the burial lair of Alexander Thomson and his wife Jean Kennedy.

The stone reads - "This burying place belongs to Alex Thomson, Commander of the Alert Revenue Cutter and Jean Kennedy his spouse 1816."

Alexander Thomson died in Dunoon in 1826.  So the date of 1816 on the stone was probably when he bought the lair for himself and his wife.  He would have been remembered in Greenock as the Revenue Officer who captured many smugglers over the years.  He seems to have been a fearless man, not afraid of getting into scrapes with the smugglers in order to carry out his orders of confiscating contraband and arresting the wrongdoers.

You can read some of Alex Thomson's adventures in my previous blog post about smuggling (click on link to read post).  Alexander Thomson and his wife Jean Kennedy had no children.  He left his estate to his wife and bequests for his sister Flora's children.