Pishey Thompson (1784–1862) was an English publisher and antiquarian writer, known as a historian of

Boston, Lincolnshire Boston is a market town and inland port in the borough of the same name in the county of Lincolnshire, England. Boston is north of London, north-east of Peterborough, east of Nottingham, south-east of Lincoln, south-southeast of Hull ...

. He spent the years 1819 to 1846 in the United States.

Life

Thompson was born at Peachey Hall,

Freiston __NOTOC__ Freiston is a village and civil parish in Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish (including Freiston Shore) at the 2011 census was 1,306. It is situated approximately east from Boston. The Greenwich Prime Zero m ...

, near Boston, Lincolnshire. He went to work as a bank clerk in Boston. In 1811–12 he ran ''The Enquirer, or Literary, Mathematical, and Philosophical Repository'', from Boston with

William Marrat William Marrat (1772–1852) was an English printer, publisher and educator, known as a mathematician and antiquarian. Life Born at Sibsey, Lincolnshire, on 6 April 1772, Marrat was self-taught through wide reading and study of modern language. W ...

. Emigrating to America in 1819, Thompson was in business as a bookseller and publisher on

Pennsylvania Avenue Pennsylvania Avenue is a diagonal street in Washington, D.C., and Prince George's County, Maryland, that connects the White House and the United States Capitol and then crosses the city to Maryland. In Maryland it is also Maryland Route 4 (MD 4) ...

, Washington. There he became acquainted with Daniel Webster, Edward Everett, and other leading figures. Thompson had numerous interests in the US, including the settlement at

Albion, Illinois Albion is a city in and the county seat of Edwards County, Illinois, Edwards County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,971 at the 2020 census. The city was named "Albion" after an ancient and poetic reference to the island of Great Bri ...

, and was naturalised as an American citizen, but became bankrupt. He returned to England in 1841; and went back to the US in 1843, to disappointment as far as his prospects there were concerned. His one abiding source of income was as a writer for the '' National Intelligencer''. Thompson returned to England in 1846. He died at

Stoke Newington Stoke Newington is an area occupying the north-west part of the London Borough of Hackney in north-east London, England. It is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington the ancient parish. The ...

on 25 September 1862, and was buried at

Abney Park cemetery Abney Park cemetery is one of the "Magnificent Seven" cemeteries in London, England. Abney Park in Stoke Newington in the London Borough of Hackney is a historic parkland originally laid out in the early 18th century by Lady Mary Abney, D ...

Works

Thompson researched Boston and the neighbouring villages, and announced his intention to publish an antiquarian work on them in 1807. Materials were published under the title of ''Collections for a Topographical and Historical Account of Boston and the Hundred of Skirbeck in the County of Lincoln'', 1820. Much later he resumed work and eventually published in 1856 ''The History and Antiquities of Boston and the Villages of Skirbeck, Fishtoft, Freiston, Butterwick, Bennington, Leverton, Leake, and Wrangle, comprising the Hundred of Skirbeck in the County of Lincoln''. He republished in 1826 an expanded version of a legal work of William Sampson from 1824.

Family

Thompson was married to Jane Tonge, but had no children by her; she published a volume of verse. He fathered an illegitimate son, John Wright (born 1824), by Mary Wright, daughter of Richard Wright.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Pishey 1784 births 1862 deaths English antiquarians 19th-century English businesspeople English publishers (people) People from Boston, Lincolnshire English emigrants to the United States 19th-century publishers (people) 19th-century antiquarians