Sir Ralph Wood Thompson, KCB, PC (1 July 1830 – 1 December 1902) was a British civil servant. Thompson was the son of Jonathan Thompson of Sherwood Hall, Nottinghamshire, receiver-general of Crown rents for the northern counties, by his wife Anne, daughter of Ralph Smyth, colonel in the Royal Artillery. A brother, Captain Henry Langhorne Thompson, gained fame for his part in the defence of Kars. Thompson joined the Colonial Office as a clerk in 1853. He became Registrar in the War Office in 1854, Chief Clerk in War Office in 1871, Assistant Under-Secretary of State for War, 1877, and

Permanent Under-Secretary of State for War The position of Under-Secretary of State for War was a British government position, first applied to Evan Nepean (appointed in 1794). In 1801 the offices for War and the Colonies were merged and the post became that of Under-Secretary of State for ...

in 1878. He retired in 1895. He was appointed a Commissioner for the

Patriotic Fund Lloyd's Patriotic Fund was founded on 28 July 1803 at Lloyd's Coffee House, and continues to the present day. Lloyd’s Patriotic Fund now works closely with armed forces charities to identify the individuals and their families who are in urgent ne ...

in 1881. Thompson was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in 1877, promoted to a Knight Commander (KCB) in 1882, and was appointed to the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

in Lord Rosebery's resignation honours list in 1895. Thompson married in 1856 Agatha Vaughan Cornish, daughter of Rev. George Cornish, rector of Kenwyn, Cornwall. She died in 1861. The colonial administrator Sir Harry Langhorne Thompson was their son. He died in London on 1 December 1902.

References

* https://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540891.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-191554?rskey=c1pnVn&result=1 {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Ralph Wood 1830 births 1902 deaths Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Civil servants in the Colonial Office Civil servants in the War Office Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for War