Captain Philip Thicknesse (1719-1792) was a British author and eccentric. He was born in Staffordshire, England and lived in Farthinghoe, Northamptonshire. He also lived in Bath. He obtained a commission as a Captain of an independent company in Jamaica after 1737, but transferred to a marine regiment as a Captain-Lieutenant in 1740. He was Lieutenant- Governor of Landguard Fort, Suffolk (1753-1766). He was a friend of the society artist Thomas Gainsborough and also his less well-known brother, the inventor Humphrey Gainsborough. He was an author and wrote for The Gentleman's Magazine. He also published The Speaking Figure and the Automaton Chess Player, Exposed and Detected, a not entirely accurate expos of the chess playing machine The Turk. He also wrote A Year's Journey Through France and Part of Spain (2 volumes) (1777).