Thompson was born in
Kingston upon Hull in March 1783. From 1803, Thompson served as a
midshipman in the
Royal Navy, switching to the
British Army (as a
lieutenant) in 1806. Thompson became
Governor of Sierra Leone between August 1808 and June 1810, due in part to his acquaintance with
William Wilberforce. He was recalled from the job after complaining about the system by which "freed" slaves were compulsorily "apprenticed" for fourteen years. He wrote that Wilberforce and the
Sierra Leone Company had "by means of their agents become slave traders themselves". He threatened to expose this situation, so he was sacked, with Wilberforce himself agreeing to the dismissal. In 1812, Thompson returned to his military duties, and, after serving in the south of France, was in 1819 attached as
Arabic interpreter to the
Persian Gulf campaign of 1819 against the
Qawasim in
Ras Al Khaimah, where he was responsible for the final destruction of the remains of Ras Al Khaimah in July 1820. Whilst in the Army, Thompson was promoted to
major in 1825,
lieutenant colonel in 1829 and in later years was made a
major general. While serving in the Army in India, his second son, Charles, was born at
Bombay. As a radical reformer, Thompson wrote the
True Theory of Rent and
A Catechism on the Corn Laws. He also joint-owned the
Westminster Review for a time. He wrote several articles in the journal supporting
universal suffrage, and his articles were republished in 1842 in six volumes. Thompson represented
Kingston upon Hull in the
House of Commons from 1835 to 1837 and was elected to represent
Bradford between 1847 and 1852, and again from 1857 to 1859. Thompson died in September 1869 aged 86. Monuments to his second son General
Charles William Thompson, his youngest son Lieutenant Colonel
John Wycliffe Thompson, who served in the Crimean War, and his youngest daughter Anne Elise are in the chancel of St Mary's Church,
Cottingham, near
Hull. ==Personal life==