MB ChB Manch 1894, MD (Gold Medal) 1899.
Thompson was educated at the University of Manchester, where he briefly lectured in anatomy. He left Manchester when he was appointed lecturer of anatomy at the University of Middlesex, and he was later professor of anatomy at King's College London and from 1909 at Birmingham University. Thompson was known for his anatomical work on the musculature of the pelvis and embryology. He was honorary secretary of the Anatomical Society of Great Britain from 1901 to 1904. He died on 16 October 1921, aged 50.