Captain Thomas Legge Barnardiston (4 September 1866 – 6 February 1912) was an officer whose inspection reports were conspicuous for showing poor attention to cleanliness in vessels under his command.
Born in Sudbury, he was promoted to Lieutenant on 30 August 1888
On 6 June 1899, the Admiralty expressed its displeasure that a torpedo had been lost under his authority.
He was promoted to Commander on 31 December 1900.
In 1904, he was chastised for landing shells from Repulse in a damaged condition.
He was promoted to Captain on 31 December 1905.
In April 1906, he assumed command of the first class protected cruiser Theseus.
In March 1909, he was appointed as Captain of Mars. At the end of May a Court of Inquiry was assembled to explore poor results in her Gunlayers' Test.
Though his health started to turn sour in May when he was admitted to Osborne Convalescent Home and seemed to remain so when surveyed at Haslar in July, Barnardiston was appointed command of the first class protected cruiser Ariadne in August 1910. While he was still scheduled for a survey in October, his appointment was not to be cancelled. He was deemed fit for command, but not at sea.
On 26 April 1911, he was admitted to Haslar Hospital with kidney disease. Barnardiston could not continue and retired at his own request. He died in Haslar Hospital at 1 a.m. on 6 February 1912.