Biographies A-Z

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Thomas of Ireland (Thomas Hibernigena)

Thomas of Ireland (Thomas Hibernigena) (d. c.1270), Irish Franciscan in the monastery of Aquila, Abruzzi, Italy. Almost nothing is known of him apart from his conjectured authorship of a moral concordance to the Bible grouped by feasts, called by Wadding (who first…

Thomas of Lancaster

Thomas of Lancaster (1388–1421), duke of Clarence , lieutenant of Ireland, and seneschal of England, was second son of Henry IV, and was appointed lieutenant of Ireland in July 1401 to secure a Lancastrian presence in the lordship. He arrived in Ireland in November 1401; but because…

Thompson, Bonar

Thompson, Bonar (1888–1963), radical orator, was born 16 December 1888 at Carnearney, Co. Antrim, son of Johnny Bambridge and Matilda Bonar, both presbyterian farm labourers. Brought up in extreme poverty by his aunt Eliza Thompson, he later remarked of his illegitimacy that he was born…

Thompson, Edward Charles

Thompson, Edward Charles (1851–1933), surgeon and politician, was born 1 April 1851 near Omagh, Co. Tyrone, second son of Henry Thompson, surgeon, and his wife Nannie, daughter of Edward Blake, DL, of Caslegrove, Co. Mayo. He was educated at…

Thompson, James

Thompson, James (1863–1945), civil engineer, was born 22 August 1863 in Drogheda, Co. Louth, son of Thomas Thompson, supervisor, and his wife, Mary Henderson (née Logan). Moving to Cork in 1870, he was educated at Carmichael's School and at QCC…

Thompson, John Patrick

Thompson, John Patrick (1880–1913), champion jockey, was born 13 December 1880 in Bunclody, Co. Wexford, eldest among two sons and a daughter born to Joseph Thompson, farmer, from Newtownbarry Mills, and Katherine Thompson (née Murphy), originally from Enniscorthy. He was initially…

Thompson, John Vaughan

Thompson, John Vaughan (1779–1847), army surgeon and zoologist, was born 19 November 1779 in Berwick-upon-Tweed, England, son of John Thompson and his wife Jane (née Hall). He studied medicine and surgery in Edinburgh (1797–8), and in March 1799 was appointed assistant surgeon to…

Thompson, Robert Lloyd Hall-

Thompson, Robert Lloyd Hall- (1920–92), businessman and politician, was born 9 April 1920 in Belfast, son of Lt-col. Samuel Herbert Hall-Thompson (qv) and Margaret Hall-Thompson (née Maclean). He was educated at Campbell…

Thompson, Samuel Herbert Hall-

Thompson, Samuel Herbert Hall- (1885–1954), unionist politician, was born in Crawfordsburn, Co. Down, son of Robert Thompson, chairman of Lindsay, Thompson & Co. Ltd, flax spinners, who owned residences in both Crawfordsburn and Belfast. Robert Thompson was later to become the…

Thompson, Samuel (Sam)

Thompson, Samuel (Sam) (1916–65), playwright and shipyard worker, was born 21 May 1916 at 2 Montrose Street, Ballymacarrett, Belfast, one of the eight children of Hugh Thompson, lamplighter and part-time sexton of the Church of Ireland St Clement's church, and his wife, Margaret, née…

Thompson, Sir William Henry

Thompson, Sir William Henry (1860–1918), physiologist and author, was born 17 August 1860, third son of William Thompson of Ballynulty House, near Granard, Co. Longford, and grandson of Robert Thompson of Cloncoose, Co. Longford; his mother's name is not known. Educated at the…

Thompson, Sir William John

Thompson, Sir William John (1861–1929), registrar-general of Ireland, was born at Tattyreagh, Co. Fermanagh, the son of William Thompson, a farmer of Tattyreagh. He was educated at TCD and the…

Thompson (Thomson), William

Thompson (Thomson), William (1726–98), portrait painter and author, was born in Dublin, the eldest of a large family. His father lived off a small paternal inheritance and looked after the agency of several estates for absentee landlords, but still found it difficult to support his…

Thompson, William

Thompson, William (1805–52), naturalist, was born 2 November 1805, probably in Donegall Square, Belfast, eldest son of William Thompson (d. 1819), a prosperous linen merchant who owned a bleach-green at Wolf Hill, outside the town, and Elizabeth Thompson (née Callwell). He had at…

Thompson, William

Thompson, William (1775–1833), political economist and social reformer, was born in Cork city. His father, John Thompson, a wealthy merchant and landowner, was high sheriff of the county and, in 1794, was elected mayor of Cork city. John Thompson died in 1814 (his wife, of whom no other…

Thompson, William Marcus

Thompson, William Marcus (1857–1907), journalist, barrister, and radical, was born 24 April 1857 in Derry city, second son among four sons and four daughters of Moses Thompson, customs official, and Elizabeth Thompson (née Smith). Educated privately, he worked as a solicitor's clerk…

Thomson, Charles

Thomson, Charles (1729–1824), radical leader in pre-revolutionary Philadelphia, and secretary of the continental congress and of the US congress, was born 29 November 1729 in the townland of Gorteade, in the parish of Maghera, Co. Londonderry, third child among five sons and a daughter…

Thomson, George

Thomson, George (1799–1886), military and railway engineer, was born 19 September 1799 at Fairley, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, second son of George Thomson and his wife Agnes (née Dingwall). Initially educated by private tutor, he entered the East India Company's military college at…

Thomson, George Derwent (Seoirse Mac Tomáis)

Thomson, George Derwent (Seoirse Mac Tomáis) (1903–87), classical scholar and writer, was born 19 August 1903 in West Dulwich, London, the eldest of a family of three sons and two daughters born to William Henry Thomson, an accountant, and his wife Minnie (née Clements). Inheriting an…

Thomson, Hugh

Thomson, Hugh (1860–1920), illustrator, was born 1 June 1860 in Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, the eldest of the two boys and one girl of John Thomson (1822–1894), a tea merchant, and his wife, Catherine, née Andrews (d. 1871). His father later remarried and moved to Kilrea, Co.…

Thomson, James

Thomson, James (1822–92), engineer and inventor, was born 16 February 1822 at 17 College Square, east Belfast, third child and eldest son among four daughters and three sons of James Thomson (qv), of a presbyterian tenant-farming family…

Thomson, James

Thomson, James (1786–1849), professor of mathematics, was born 13 November 1786 in Annaghmore, near Ballynahinch, Co. Down, third son and fifth child of James Thomson and Agnes Thomson (née Nesbit), farmers. James was taught to read by his older sisters, worked his way unaided…

Thomson, (John Smith) Bryden (‘Jack’)

Thomson, (John Smith) Bryden (‘Jack’) (1928–91), conductor, was born 26 July 1928 in Ayr, Scotland. He was educated in Ayr Academy, and then at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music in Glasgow, where he won many prizes. In 1954 he gained a scholarship to study conducting with Hans…

Thomson, Samuel

Thomson, Samuel (1766–1816), poet, was born 25 May 1766 near Templepatrick, Co. Antrim. Nothing is known of his family or early life; his father could have been a James Thompson who signed a document in Templepatrick in 1771. Thomson was presbyterian, and made a living as a…

Thomson, Samuel Smith

Thomson, Samuel Smith (1778?–1849), doctor and philanthropist, was one of at least four children of James Thomson, surgeon in Coleraine, and his wife Ellen, youngest daughter of Samuel Smith (1691–1760), who was prominent in Belfast, was related to many of Belfast's well known linen and…