Edward Thompson (26 February 1697 – 5 July 1742) was a

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

from 1722 to 1742.

Life

Thompson was the son of Edward Thompson of Long Marston (1670–1734) and Lucy Tindall, and the grandson of Henry Thompson, a wine merchant of

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

who established the prominence of the Thompson family. His sister, Henrietta, married Colonel

Edward Wolfe Lieutenant General Edward Wolfe (1685 – 26 March 1759) was a British army officer who saw action in the War of the Spanish Succession, 1715 Jacobite rebellion and the War of Jenkins' Ear. He is best known as the father of James Wolfe, famous f ...

and became the mother of

James Wolfe Major-general James Wolfe (2 January 1727 – 13 September 1759) was a British Army officer known for his training reforms and, as a major general, remembered chiefly for his victory in 1759 over the French at the Battle of the Plains of ...

. He was educated at

Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield Queen Elizabeth Grammar School (QEGS) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (day school, no boarding) for boys in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The school was founded by Royal Charter of Elizabeth I of England, Queen Elizabet ...

. In 1722, Thompson was elected Member of Parliament for

, a seat he held for the remainder of his life. Employed as a Commissioner of the Land Revenue in Ireland, he issued a pamphlet justifying the introduction of a general

excise file:Lincoln Beer Stamp 1871.JPG, upright=1.2, 1871 U.S. Revenue stamp for 1/6 barrel of beer. Brewers would receive the stamp sheets, cut them into individual stamps, cancel them, and paste them over the Bunghole, bung of the beer barrel so when ...

there. This, and the pomp with which he carried out his office, aroused the scorn of

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish writer, essayist, satirist, and Anglican cleric. In 1713, he became the Dean (Christianity), dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and was given the sobriquet "Dean Swi ...

in 1733 in a polemic against holders of civil office. From 1729 until 1733, he was Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of York.

Family

Thompson first married Arabella Dunch (d. 1734), daughter of Edmund Dunch, on 6 February 1725. By her he had one daughter: *Arabella Thompson (d. 28 February 1735). Thompson separated from Arabella, who later bore two children to her brother-in-law Sir George Oxenden. By his second wife, Mary Moor (d. 1784), he had a second daughter: *Mary Thompson (14 September 1738 – 29 June 1747). On 5 May 1741, he was appointed a Commissioner of the Admiralty, but died the following year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Edward 1697 births 1742 deaths Lords of the Admiralty Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 People educated at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield