Thomas Thompson was born 5 April 1754, in relatively humble beginnings, his father was a yeoman in Owborough Grange, Swine, East Riding of Yorkshire. He married Philothea Perronet on 29 August 1781. She was a granddaughter of Vincent Perronet.
He was educated by the Review William Stead of Swine.
The father of Thomas Perronet Thompson, he had the gothic mansion, Cottingham Castle, built in Cottingham, East Riding of Yorkshire. After having worked for fourteen years as a clerk to the merchants Wilberforce and Smith of Hull. Thompson acquired shareholdings in Sykes, Son & Company, Hull metal merchants, and in the Hull Dock Company.
He became chairman of the Dock Company in 1812.
In 1807 Thompson became Member of Parliament to the borough of Midhurst in 1807, a constituency controlled by Abel Smith"s son Lord Carrington (Robert Smith, 1st Baron Carrington), in the role of Member of Parliament he followed the line of his promoters. He claimed to have been ill-suited for the role, affirming that Carrington had ".. spoiled a very good banker and made a very bad Member of Parliament".
He resigned as an Member of Parliament in 1818. By the beginning of the 19th century Thompson had become very wealthy, a large house known as Cottingham Castle was built for his family by 1816.
Thompson was a Methodist lay preacher, and donated money towards the establishment of chapels.
His concern for the state of the poor who entered workhouses led to establishment of a "Pauper Village" in Cottingham, providing land to poor families, renamed New Village (1829). He also published A History of the Church and Priory of Swine, in Holderness. Thomas Thompson died in Paris on 14 September 1828, shortly after his retirement.
He was buried in Pere la Chaise cemetery.
4th United Kingdom Parliament. 5th United Kingdom Parliament]
He objected to slavery, and was an associate of William Wilberforce, and part of the Anti-Slavery Association, and a member of the Clapham Section(s).
