Additional papers of Thomas Perronet Thompson and of other members of his family

Other members of his family represented are: (1) William Briggs (d. 1777); (2) Thomas Thompson (1754-1828); (3) John Vincent Thompson (1785-1856); (4) Charles William Thompson, I (1788-1813); (5) Charles William Thompson, II (1815-1896); (6) John Wycliffe Thompson (1824-1895); (7) Edith Perronet Thompson (1848-1929); (8) Charles William Thompson, III (1859-1940)

General Thomas Perronet Thompson (1783-1869) was a politician and reformer. His father was Thomas Thompson, a merchant and banker of Hull. His mother, Philothea Perronet Briggs, was related to Vincent Perronet, a Methodist and close friend of John Wesley. He served both in the navy and the army, and was in 1808 the first governor of Sierra Leone. On his return to England in 1822 he turned to politics and supported the Anti-Corn-Law League and free trade. His interests were extremely wide, including natural history, geometry, and music, as well as politics and economics. For seven years he owned the Westminster Review. At the Great Exhibition of 1851 he showed an enharmonic organ constructed according to his musical theories. In June 1836 he entered Parliament as the member for Hull and only finally gave up his seat in 1859 after fighting for his policies whether in or out of Parliament. He married Anne Elizabeth [Nancy] Barker from York and had three sons and a daughter, all of whom had distinguished careers

Access is unrestricted

The gift of Miss M.W. Thompson, December 1984

Mainly in English with a little French

Contents listed in Handlist 86

See also MS 277, which is listed in Handlist 8