Introduction

Biography

Thomas was the son of John Bil­by.

He joined the ar­my in 1809, re­main­ing eight years.

Subsequently he stu­died the In­fant School Sys­tem un­der Bu­chan­an, whose school at Brew­er’s Green, West­min­ster, is said to have been the first In­fants’ School in Eng­land.

In 1825, he took charge of a Train­ing School at Chel­sea, where some 500 teach­ers learned his sys­tem.

In 1832 he moved to the West In­dies, where he in­tro­duced his teach­ing sys­tem.

On re­turn to Eng­land, he be­came par­ish clerk of St. Ma­ry’s, Is­ling­ton. He was one of the found­ers of the Home and Co­lo­ni­al In­fant School So­cie­ty.

Works

Jointly with Mr. R. B. Ridg­way, he pub­lished The Nur­se­ry Book, The In­fant Teach­er’s As­sist­ant, 1831–32 (where his hymns ap­peared), and the Book of Qua­dru­peds, 1838.