Sir Richard Hilton Marler Thompson, 1st Baronet (5 October 1912 – 15 July 1999) was a British

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

politician. Thompson was born in Chesterfield Derbyshire, the son of Richard South Thompson (1868–1952) and Kathleen Hilda née Marler (d. 1916). He was educated at

Malvern College Malvern College is an Independent school (United Kingdom), independent coeducational day and boarding school in Malvern, Worcestershire, Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It is a public school (United Kingdom), public school in the British sen ...

and in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

and worked in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

and the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

in business. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he served in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

as an ordinary seaman and became a lieutenant-commander in the

Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original R ...

. He was serving on HMS ''Hermione'' in 1942 when the ship was sunk whilst part of the

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

convoy. He became a director of two publishing companies and was a

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to t ...

of the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. Thompson was elected as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Croydon West in 1950, defeating

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

David Rees-Williams David Rees Rees-Williams, 1st Baron Ogmore, PC, TD (22 November 1903 – 30 August 1976) was a British politician. Life and career Rees-Williams was born in Bridgend, Wales, the son of William Rees Williams, of Garth-celyn, Bridgend, and Jen ...

, then for the new Croydon South seat in 1955. He joined the

Whips' Office The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom ...

as a junior whip in 1952, then as

Lord Commissioner of the Treasury In the United Kingdom there are at least six Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, serving as a commission for the ancient office of Treasurer of the Exchequer. The board consists of the First Lord of the Treasury, the Second Lord of the ...

in 1954 and Vice-Chamberlain of the Household in 1956. He was

Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health was a junior ministerial office in the United Kingdom Government. The Ministry of Health was created in 1919 as a reconstruction of the Local Government Board. Local government functions were ev ...

1957–59,

Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations The Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations was a junior ministerial post in the United Kingdom Government from 1947 until 1966. The holder was responsible for assisting the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations in dealing with B ...

1959-60 and

Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

1960–62. In 1963 he was created a Baronet, of

Reculver Reculver is a village and coastal resort about east of Herne Bay on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. It is in the ward of the same name, in the City of Canterbury district of Kent. Reculver once occupied a strategic location ...

in the County of Kent. Thompson lost his seat to Labour's

David Winnick David Julian Winnick (born 26 June 1933) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Walsall North between 1979 and 2017, he was also the MP for Croydon South from 1966 to 1970. Early life Born into a Britis ...

in 1966, but regained it in 1970. He retired at the February 1974 general election. Thompson married Anne Christabel de Vere Annesley on 9 August 1939 in Blean Kent, the daughter of Philip de Vere Annesley (1879–1949) and Christabel Charlotte née Tomson (1887–1955). Sir Richard died on 15 July 1999 in Ashford Kent, Anne Christabel died in February 2003 in Kingston upon Thames. Sir Richard was succeeded by his only son Nicholas Annesley Marler Thompson born 19 March 1947 at Bridge Kent, who inherited the baronetcy in 1999. Sir Nicholas is chairman of the executive committee of The Standing Council of the Baronetage. He married Venetia Catherine Heathcote (b. 22 April 1951) the daughter of John Horace Broke Heathcote (28 December 1910 – 30 May 2003) and Dorelle Geraldine née Rice (13 March 1913 – 11 May 2007) on 10 December 1982 at St Margaret's church Westminster. They have four children: * Simon William Thompson (b. 10 June 1985) * Charles Frederick Thompson (b. 25 November 1986) * David Jonathan Thompson (b. 20 April 1990) * Emma Louise Thompson (b. 24 July 1991)

Arms

References

External links

* 1912 births 1999 deaths People educated at Malvern College Royal Navy officers Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Politics of the London Borough of Croydon UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1970–1974 Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Trustees of the British Museum Ministers in the third Churchill government, 1951–1955 Ministers in the Eden government, 1955–1957 Ministers in the Macmillan and Douglas-Home governments, 1957–1964 {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1910s-stub