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 and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

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 a Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging coeducational boarding school, boarding and day school in Malvern, Worcestershire, Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It is a public school (United Kingdom), public school ...

and in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

and worked in

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

and the

Far East The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...

in business. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he served in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

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 ...

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

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

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, refers to anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the ...

of the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

. Thompson was elected as Member of Parliament for Croydon West in 1950, defeating Labour MP David Rees-Williams, then for the new Croydon South seat in 1955. He joined the Whips' Office as a junior whip in 1952, then as

Lord Commissioner of the Treasury In the United Kingdom there are at least six Lords (or Ladies) 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 ...

in 1954 and

Vice-Chamberlain of the Household The Vice-Chamberlain of the Household is a member of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. The officeholder is usually a senior government whip in the British House of Commons ranking third or fourth after the Chief Whip and ...

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 The Ministry of Works was a department of the UK Government formed in 1940, during the Second World War, to organise the requisitioning of property for wartime use. After the war, the ministry retained responsibility for government building proj ...

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 Wards of the United Kingdom, ward of the same name, in the City of Canterbury district of Kent. Reculver once o ...

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 served 42 years as a 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 Bo ...

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

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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