Research papers of Professor Pat Thompson

Papers relating to Professor Pat Thompson's research interests relating to nineteenth-century Liberal British politics. Includes extensive correspondence between Joseph Chamberlain and John Morley, biographer of William Gladstone. This correspondence dates from the period 1875 to 1892 with some typescript letters, possibly typed by journalist Francis Hirst. There is a small amount of correspondence between Morley and Austen Chamberlain from the period 1914-1915; and two electoral ledgers which include details of the parties, and individuals, holding each seat in England, Scotland and Wales.

The collection also includes research papers relating to the Birmingham Liberal politician Francis Schnadhorst. These papers include Thompson's correspondence with Charles Schnadhorst and Elizabeth Schnadhorst; correspondence with the University of Birmingham relating to the deposit of the Schnadhorst papers, 1990s; manuscript notes relating to Francis Schnadhorst's political career; cartoons, some taken from 'Punch', relating to the Liberal Party; and a photographic print depicting Schnadhorst, pictured above.

Some miscellaneous papers include a small number of newspaper cuttings and various other notes appearing to relate to nineteenth-century British politics.

Arthur Frederick 'Pat' Thompson (1920-2009) was born in Preston on 6 June 1920, the son of a civil servant, and moved to Northern Ireland in 1923. He went to Magdalen College, Oxford, in 1939 to read history and was taught by both the medievalist Bruce MacFarlane and A. J. P. Taylor. During the Second World War he joined the Worcestershire Yeomanry and trained as a glider-paratrooper. He was wounded during the Normandy campaign of 1944 and spent the rest of the war at Bletchley Park. He then returned to Oxford as a graduate to work on nineteenth-century political history. In 1947 he went to Wadham College and remained there, with spells as visiting professor at Stanford in California and McMaster in Ontario, until his retirement.

Thompson's research interests included William Gladstone and one of his uncompleted projects was a biography of John Morley, Gladstone's biographer. The focus of much of Thompson's work was the 'radical' or 'progressive' tradition in recent British history. With Hugh Clegg and Alan Fox he founded what became known as the 'Oxford school' of Labour history, with a focus on trade-union history and the social and legal development of industrial relations.

He married Mary Barritt in Oxford during 1942 and the couple had three children: Alan, John and Ruth. Pat Thompson died on 9 October 2009.

Sources: research papers of Professor Pat Thompson; obituary published in The Guardian, accessed 1 July 2015 via http://www.theguardian.com/education/2009/oct/29/pat-thompson-obituary; Free Births, Marriages and Deaths website, accessed 1 July 2015 via http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl

Open, access to all registered researchers.

Gifted by Ruth Thompson via Vice-Chancellor's Office, October 2014

Please see full catalogue for more information.

Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in advance in writing from the Director of Special Collections (email: special-collections@contacts.bham.ac.uk). Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult. Special Collections will assist where possible with identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material.

Cadbury Research Library also holds correspondence of Francis Schnadhorst (MS170); papers of Joseph Chamberlain (JC); papers of Austen Chamberlain (AC)