Descended from a well known family of cotton spinners from Bolton

Bolton

Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...

, Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

, Franklin Thomasson was born on 16 August 1873 at Alderley Edge, Cheshire, the 3rd child of John Pennington Thomasson

John Pennington Thomasson

John Pennington Thomasson was an English cotton spinner and Liberal Party politician. He was elected as a Member of Parliament for Bolton at the 1880 general election along with John Kynaston Cross in the double member constituency, signifying a great victory as two liberals were elected for the...

, who was a benefactor and MP for Bolton. He married Elizabeth, a daughter of the late Caleb Coffin of New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 on 11 July 1895. They had 3 children, John (1898), Marjorie (1901) and Barbara (1903).

Franklin contested the Westhoughton

Westhoughton (UK Parliament constituency)

Westhoughton was a parliamentary constituency in Lancashire, England. Centred on the former mining and cotton town of Westhoughton, it returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....

 Parliamentary division in 1900, and Stretford

Stretford (UK Parliament constituency)

Stretford was a parliamentary constituency in North West England, which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....

 in 1901, but on both occasions he was unsuccessful. He became Liberal MP for Leicester

Leicester (UK Parliament constituency)

Leicester was a parliamentary borough in Leicestershire, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1295 until 1918, when it was split into three single-member divisions.-History:...

 at a by-election

By-election

A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

 in 1906, however, sharing the representation of the double-member constituency with Ramsay MacDonald

Ramsay MacDonald

James Ramsay MacDonald, PC, FRS was a British politician who was the first ever Labour Prime Minister, leading a minority government for two terms....

. He retired at the January 1910 election.

In 1906, Thomasson ventured on a bold but disastrous experiment in newspaper production by founding the Tribune (1906-1908).

He played a large part in local political life before he left Bolton for London.

During World War I he commanded the 2-5th Battalion Loyal North Lancashire Regiment.

His wife Elizabeth died in 1927 and he then married Gertrude Prescott. They had three children, Margaret (1930), Christopher (1932) and Jenny (1937).

Franklin died of cancer on 29 October 1941 and was buried at Lyndhurst, Hampshire

Lyndhurst, Hampshire

Lyndhurst is a village and civil parish in the New Forest, Hampshire, England. It is a popular tourist location with many independent shops, art galleries, cafés, restaurants, pubs and hotels. The nearest city is Southampton located around nine miles to the north-east...

.