Who’s the Mysterious Coffee Scientist?

Having had the pleasure of presenting his work on coffee in previous articles, I am now delighted to introduce you to the earliest coffee scientist I have encountered in literature to date: Sir Benjamin Thomson, otherwise known as Count Rumford. Allow me to tell you a bit about what he accomplished in his 61 years on this earth.

Benjamin Thomson was born in 1753 in Woburn, Massachusetts. He showed a natural talent for the sciences from a young age, excelling in this area in school. Unfortunately, he did not come from the type of privilege that would have allowed him to pursue a career in science. His father died when Benjamin was an infant, and his mother took him out of school when he was 13 and apprenticed him to a merchant. Benjamin’s prospects improved when he married Sarah Rolfe shortly before his twentieth birthday. His marriage to Sarah, a wealthy and prominent widow^[1] almost fourteen years his senior, elevated his social status. The couple’s unconventional age gap marriage was probably a hot topic of gossip at the time, but this was just the beginning of a life that would be anything but ordinary.

His wife’s connections helped him obtain a position as a major in the New Hampshire state militia. Unfortunately, the American War of Independence broke out the year after their daughter was born in 1775. The war divided the militia into loyalists, who supported British rule, and patriots, who opposed it. We know from Benjamin’s letters that he was a loyalist. He writes,

'I fled Boston, as upon my refusing to bear Arms against the king I was more than ever suspected by the People in this part of the Country – and it has been with difficulty … [that I] have more than once prevented my bein[g] as[s]assinated.^[e]’

Within these letters, he included hidden messages written in invisible ink. The messages revealed military information; this secret transfer of intelligence established Benjamin as a British spy in the War of Independence. After a mob attacked his house, he fled the colony in 1776, at the age of 23, for London — without his wife and child. He was never to see his wife again.^[2] While some literature suggests that he never had a true interest in the marriage^[3] and thus abandoned his family, others suggest that he truly wanted the British to win so he could return home. His military accomplishments and scientific ingenuity^[4] during this period must have been substantial, as he was promoted to the rank of colonel in the British army.

Ambitious and eager for new opportunities after the war in 1784, he turned his sights towards Europe. There, he found a position as an aide-de-camp and colonel of the cavalry at Charles Theodore’s court. Theodore had inherited the rule of several regions in Germany, including the province of Bavaria, and became the electorate of Bavaria.^[5] When Benjamin returned to Britain to seek permission to accept the foreign job offer (a permission he received), he was also honoured with a knighthood from King George III, who bestowed upon him the prestigious title ‘Sir Benjamin Thomson’. He was just 31 years old.

Sir Thomson was clearly a charming and tactful individual. I was nevertheless surprised to discover that someone from outside the European aristocracy could gain influence so rapidly in a European court. I investigated further.

It turns out that Charles Theodore, the electorate of Bavaria, was a very cultured man with a keen interest in arts and sciences. He showed little interest in his responsibilities to govern the people, especially those of Bavaria, however. Theodore tried several times to exchange Bavarian lands for Austrian lands in the Netherlands, closer to his Palatinate lands, which were located in the Rhine River Valley. He was unsuccessful due to Prussian and Saxon interference. His attempts to exchange these lands did not ingratiate him with the Bavarian people and led to a growing animosity between both parties as he also spent a fifth of their budget on luxurious indulgences while 4% of the population were left to beg on the streets. His lack of interest in ruling may explain why Theodore is often portrayed in the literature as a person who simply adopted the opinions of those around him instead of cultivating his own.

Charles Theodore’s interest in foreign novelties, his hands-off approach to governing Bavaria, and his interest in science probably helped advance Sir Benjamin Thomson’s career. It is believed that Sir Thomson’s quick advancement through the Bavarian ranks was also aided by his relationship with Countess Baumgarten, who had apparently previously been the mistress of Charles Theodore and still held influence at court.

Benjamin Thomson’s career:
1784 – Aide-de-camp and colonel of cavalry
1785 – Chamberlain
1787 – Privy councillor
1788 – Major-general of cavalry, state councillor, and minister of war
1790 – Lieutenant-general of artillery and special privy councillor
1792 – Count Rumford^[6]