Thomas Thompson (1754–1828), was a

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-ea ...

banker and

Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charle ...

preacher. The father of

Thomas Perronet Thompson Thomas Perronet Thompson (1783–1869) was a British Parliamentarian, a governor of Sierra Leone and a radical reformer. He became prominent in 1830s and 1840s as a leading activist in the Anti-Corn Law League. He specialized in the grass-root ...

, he had the gothic mansion, Cottingham Castle, built in Cottingham, East Riding of Yorkshire.

Biography

Thomas Thompson was born 5 April 1754, in relatively humble beginnings, his father was a

yeoman Yeoman is a noun originally referring either to one who owns and cultivates land or to the middle ranks of servants in an English royal or noble household. The term was first documented in mid-14th-century England. The 14th century also witn ...

in Owborough Grange, Swine, East Riding of Yorkshire. He was educated by the Rev. William Stead of Swine. He married Philothea Perronet on 29 August 1781; she was a granddaughter of Vincent Perronet. After having worked for fourteen years as a clerk to the merchants ''Wilberforce and Smith'' of Hull. Abel Smith, a partner of the firm made him manager of the Hull branch of his bank in 1784, and in 1788 he became a partner in the bank and merchant business. Thompson acquired shareholdings in Sykes, Son & Co., Hull metal merchants, and in the Hull Dock Company; he became chairman of the Dock Company in 1812. In 1807 Thompson became MP to the borough of

Midhurst Midhurst () is a market town, parish and civil parish in West Sussex, England. It lies on the River Rother inland from the English Channel, and north of the county town of Chichester. The name Midhurst was first recorded in 1186 as ''Middeh ...

in 1807, a constituency controlled by Abel Smith's son Lord Carrington (

Robert Smith, 1st Baron Carrington Robert Smith, 1st Baron Carrington (22 January 1752 – 18 September 1838), was a British banker and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1779 to 1797 when he was raised to the peerage. Early life Smith was the third son of Abel Sm ...

), in the role of MP he followed the line of his promoters. He claimed to have been ill-suited for the role, affirming that Carrington had "... spoiled a very good banker and made a very bad MP". He resigned as an MP in 1818. He objected to slavery, and was an associate of

William Wilberforce William Wilberforce (24 August 175929 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becom ...

, and part of the Anti-Slavery Association, and a member of the

Clapham Sect The Clapham Sect, or Clapham Saints, were a group of social reformers associated with Clapham in the period from the 1780s to the 1840s. Despite the label "sect", most members remained in the established (and dominant) Church of England, which ...

. By the beginning of the 19th century Thompson had become very wealthy, a large house known as Cottingham Castle was built for his family by 1816. Thompson was a Methodist lay preacher, and donated money towards the establishment of chapels. His concern for the state of the poor who entered

workhouses In Britain, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse' ...

led to establishment of a "Pauper Village" in Cottingham, providing land to poor families, renamed New Village (1829). He also published ''A History of the Church and Priory of Swine, in Holderness''. Thomas Thompson died in Paris on 14 September 1828, shortly after his retirement. He was buried in

Père Lachaise cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (french: Cimetière du Père-Lachaise ; formerly , "East Cemetery") is the largest cemetery in Paris, France (). With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Notable figure ...

. His son

(1783–1869) was a Parliamentarian, a Governor of Sierra Leone and a radical reformer. His granddaughter married

Nevil Sidgwick Nevil Vincent Sidgwick FRS (8 May 1873 – 15 March 1952) was an English theoretical chemist who made significant contributions to the theory of valency and chemical bonding. Biography Sidgwick was born in Park Town, Oxford, the elder of two ...

br>

References

Literature

External links

* *, painting * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Thomas 1754 births 1828 deaths Businesspeople from Kingston upon Hull Politicians from Kingston upon Hull Clapham Sect People from Cottingham, East Riding of Yorkshire Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1807–1812 UK MPs 1812–1818