Francis Michael Longstreth Thompson (13 August 1925 – 23 August 2017) was an English economic and social historian. He wrote several books.

Early life

The son of

Francis Longstreth Thompson Francis Longstreth Thompson, OBE (3 May 1890 – 19 March 1973) was a British town planner and writer. He was born in Croydon, Surrey, and studied at University College, London, where he took a degree in engineering. In 1917 he published ''T ...

, he was educated at

Bootham School Bootham School is an independent Quaker boarding school, on Bootham in the city of York in England. It accepts boys and girls ages 3–19, and had an enrolment of 605 pupils in 2016. It is one of seven Quaker schools in England. The school ...

, York;

The Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its pred ...

, where he took a first-class BA in 1949; and

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of Oxford University, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the ...

, from 1949 to 1951, taking a DPhil in 1956.

Career

He was Reader in Economic History at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

in 1963. He became Professor of Modern History at Bedford College in 1968, and was from 1977 to 1990 director of the

Institute of Historical Research The Institute of Historical Research (IHR) is a British educational organisation providing resources and training for historical researchers. It is part of the School of Advanced Study in the University of London and is located at Senate Hous ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. He was president of the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society, founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the Histori ...

from 1989 to 1993. He was best known for ''English Landed Society in the Nineteenth Century'' (1963), which made the role of the landed gentry a high-priority topic for agrarian and political history. He also studied urban middle and working classes, and suburbia. He added to the long-standing debate on British class history by new emphasis on "respectability." Thompson argued that it operated across class boundaries and provided a powerful stabilizing counterbalance to the working class upheavals of Victorian society. His model of society contradicted the more commonly employed Marxist assumptions. He opened up a field that has attracted many younger scholars.Christine S. Hallas, "Thompson, F.M.L." in

Personal life

In 1951 Thompson married Anne Challoner; they had two sons and a daughter. Thompson died on 23 August 2017, aged 92.

Works

*''Victorian England: the horse-drawn society; an inaugural lecture'' (1970) at Bedford College *''English Landed Society in the Nineteenth Century'' (1963) *''The Rise of Suburbia'' (1982) editor *''Horses in European Economic History: a preliminary canter'' (1983) editor *''The Rise of Respectable Society: A Social History of Victorian Britain, 1830–1900'' (1988) *''The University of London and the World of Learning, 1836–1986'' (1990) *''The Cambridge Social History of Britain, 1750–1950'' (1990, three volumes) editor *''Gentrification and the Enterprise Culture: Britain 1780–1980'' (1993) Ford Lectures *''Landowners, Capitalists and Entrepreneurs'' (1994, editor)

References

External links