Thompson was called to the bar on 6 June 1872 and practised as a barrister on the North-Eastern Circuit, becoming a
Q.C. He died, aged forty-five, at his home in
Marylebone, London, on 20 March 1894, three days after returning home from the West Coast of the United States where he wintered because of failing health over his last three years. He was buried in the parish churchyard at Holy Trinity,
Little Ouseburn, Yorkshire. ==Sports honours==