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 Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

and Member of Parliament.

Life

Baptised on 23 January 1792, he was the son of James Thompson of Grayrigg, Kendal, Westmorland, and was educated at

Charterhouse School Charterhouse is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Godalming, Surrey, England. Founded by Thomas Sutton in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian monastery in Charter ...

. 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 of the City of London are elected annually by the members of the City livery companies. Today's Sheriffs have only ceremonial duties, but the historical officeholders held important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the ...

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 a 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 gover ...

(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 in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

(1828 to his death), president of

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter, located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. T ...

(1829 to his death), trustee of the

Patriotic Fund The Lloyd's Patriotic Fund is a British patriotic fund and charity. The fund issues financial payments and has issued presentation swords and other awards. The fund was founded on 28 July 1803 at Lloyd's Coffee House by a group of Lloyd's of London ...

(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 () 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 increased to 5,78 ...

and MP for

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

(until 1832). He then represented

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

(1833–41) and

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland''R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref>) is an area of North West England which was Historic counties of England, historically a county. People of the area ...

(1841–54). He also served as Lieutenant-Colonel of the Royal London Militia (1835–51) and

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), 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 colon ...

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 ...

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 19th-century 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