William Thompson (baptised 23 January 1792 – 10 March 1854) was an English businessman who was

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional pow ...

and

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 o ...

. Baptised on 23 January 1792, he was the son of James Thompson of Grayrigg, Kendal, Westmorland and educated at Charterhouse School. He moved to London as an iron merchant and by 1800 was senior partner in the firm of Thompson, Forman and Homfray of Bankside, which had interests in iron manufacturing. He became master of the Ironmongers' Company in 1829 and 1841 and was elected an Alderman for life in 1821,

Sheriff of the City of London Two sheriffs are elected annually for the City of London by the Liverymen of the City livery companies. Today's sheriffs have only nominal duties, but the historical officeholders had important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the ju ...

for 1822–1823 and

for 1828–29. He served as Chairman of

Lloyd's of London Lloyd's of London, generally known simply as Lloyd's, is an insurance and reinsurance market located in London, England. Unlike most of its competitors in the industry, it is not an insurance company; rather, Lloyd's is a corporate body gove ...

(1826–33), treasurer (1826–29), vice-president (1829–43) and president (1843–54) of the

Honourable Artillery Company The Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) is a reserve regiment in the British Army. Incorporated by royal charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII, it is the oldest regiment in the British Army and is considered the second-oldest military unit in the w ...

and a director of the Bank of England from 1827 to his death. Other public offices included treasurer of

King's College, London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King G ...

(1828 to his death), president of

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. The school was founded in 1552 and received its first royal charter in 1553. ...

(1829 to his death), trustee of 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 ...

(1833 to his death) and deputy-chairman (1848–51) and chairman (1851 to his death) of the St. Katharine's Dock Company. In 1820 he was elected to serve successively as MP for

Callington Callington ( kw, Kelliwik) is a civil parish and town in east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom about north of Saltash and south of Launceston. Callington parish had a population of 4,783 in 2001, according to the 2001 census. This had inc ...

and MP for

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

(until 1832). He then represented Sunderland (1833–41) and

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

(1841–54). He also served as

Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...

of the Royal London Militia (1835–51) and

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

from 1851 to his death. He had married Amelia, the daughter of ironmaster

Samuel Homfray Samuel Homfray (1762 – 22 May 1822) was an English industrialist during the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain, associated with the early iron industry in South Wales. Samuel was the son of a successful ironmaster, Francis Homfray, and the ...

of Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan and had one daughter. He died on 10 March 1854.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, William 1792 births 1854 deaths People from Westmorland People educated at Charterhouse School English merchants Sheriffs of the City of London 19th-century lord mayors of London 19th-century English politicians Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1820–1826 UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1831–1832 UK MPs 1832–1835 UK MPs 1835–1837 UK MPs 1837–1841 UK MPs 1841–1847 UK MPs 1847–1852 UK MPs 1852–1857 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Callington 19th-century English businesspeople