Piers Gilchrist Thompson
Encyclopedia
Piers Gilchrist Thompson (10 May 1893 – 7 February 1969) was an English publisher
and Liberal Party
politician.
, the son of the Reverend Canon
Henry Percy Thompson and his wife Lillian (née Thomas). He was educated at Winchester College
and Brasenose College, Oxford
where he obtained his MA degree. He was married to Hester Barnes and they had two sons and a daughter.
The Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment). He ended his military service with the rank of Captain. From the early 1920s, Thompson was looking for a career in publishing. He invested in the publishing house established by Jonathan Cape
and became a junior director in the firm. After 1923, he was a Treasurer of Jonathan Cape. He also worked with Hamish Hamilton
who founded his own publishing house. He later became a partner in the publishing company of Lovat Dickson and Thompson Ltd.
at the 1922 general election
. Torquay Liberal Association had had trouble in finding a suitable candidate after the 1918 general election
. They consulted the Liberal Chief Whip and party headquarters in 1919 but no nominee came forward until Thompson was adopted as Liberal candidate for Torquay
in 1922. At the 1918 general election the Liberal candidate, Captain Russell Cooke, had finished a poor third behind Coalition Conservative
and Labour
opponents, gaining just 15% of the poll.
MP, Colonel Charles Rosdew Burn, who was a distinguished ex-soldier and an Aide-de-camp
to the King
. In the absence of a Labour candidate Burn’s majority was reduced from the 10,039 he had obtained in 1918 to 1,251 or 4.4% of the poll.
Burn stood down from the House of Commons
at the 1923 general election
. Thompson had another straight fight in Torquay this time against the new Conservative candidate Charles Williams
. In a tight contest, Thompson emerged as the winner by the narrow majority of 372 votes, just 1.2% of the total votes cast.
Thompson faced the intervention of a Labour candidate, Arthur Moyle
, who later went on to be MP for Stourbridge
. Labour’s decision to stand was criticised by the Liberals as serving only to split the anti-Tory vote. Charles Williams renewed his attack on the seat for the Conservatives. The Tory revival in the country at large was repeated in Torquay and Williams obtained 55% of the poll to win by a majority of 6,161 over Thompson. Moyle came bottom of the poll, losing his deposit
but it can hardly be contended that his intervention cost Thompson the seat. The level of support for Williams was too great and the Liberal Party’s decline was a national phenomenon.
but he was unwilling to take it on. Thompson made his home in Shipbourne
near Tonbridge
in Kent
and in 1936 accepted an invitation to become Liberal candidate for the Sevenoaks Division
of Kent, although he never contested an election in the seat. In fact he never stood for Parliament again. He maintained his connection with Liberalism however and was sometime Honorary Secretary of the Home Counties Liberal Federation. He was also a member of the Executive Committee of the Proportional Representation
Society.
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
and Liberal Party
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
politician.
Family and education
Thompson was born in BatterseaBattersea
Battersea is an area of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is an inner-city district of South London, situated on the south side of the River Thames, 2.9 miles south-west of Charing Cross. Battersea spans from Fairfield in the west to Queenstown in the east...
, the son of the Reverend Canon
Canon (priest)
A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
Henry Percy Thompson and his wife Lillian (née Thomas). He was educated at Winchester College
Winchester College
Winchester College is an independent school for boys in the British public school tradition, situated in Winchester, Hampshire, the former capital of England. It has existed in its present location for over 600 years and claims the longest unbroken history of any school in England...
and Brasenose College, Oxford
Brasenose College, Oxford
Brasenose College, originally Brazen Nose College , is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. As of 2006, it has an estimated financial endowment of £98m...
where he obtained his MA degree. He was married to Hester Barnes and they had two sons and a daughter.
Career
On 26 August 1914, shortly after the British entry into the First World War, aged 21 years, Thompson was commissioned into the 4th BattalionBattalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
The Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment). He ended his military service with the rank of Captain. From the early 1920s, Thompson was looking for a career in publishing. He invested in the publishing house established by Jonathan Cape
Jonathan Cape
Jonathan Cape was a London-based publisher founded in 1919 as "Page & Co" by Herbert Jonathan Cape , formerly a manager at Duckworth who had worked his way up from a position of bookshop errand boy. Cape brought with him the rights to cheap editions of the popular author Elinor Glyn and sales of...
and became a junior director in the firm. After 1923, he was a Treasurer of Jonathan Cape. He also worked with Hamish Hamilton
Jamie Hamilton (publisher)
Jamie Hamilton was a half-American half-Scot rower who competed for Great Britain in the 1928 Summer Olympics. He founded the publishing house Hamish Hamilton Limited....
who founded his own publishing house. He later became a partner in the publishing company of Lovat Dickson and Thompson Ltd.
Torquay
Thompson first stood for ParliamentParliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
at the 1922 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1922
The United Kingdom general election of 1922 was held on 15 November 1922. It was the first election held after most of the Irish counties left the United Kingdom to form the Irish Free State, and was won by Andrew Bonar Law's Conservatives, who gained an overall majority over Labour, led by John...
. Torquay Liberal Association had had trouble in finding a suitable candidate after the 1918 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1918
The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...
. They consulted the Liberal Chief Whip and party headquarters in 1919 but no nominee came forward until Thompson was adopted as Liberal candidate for Torquay
Torquay (UK Parliament constituency)
Torquay was a county constituency in Devon, South West England, which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
in 1922. At the 1918 general election the Liberal candidate, Captain Russell Cooke, had finished a poor third behind Coalition Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
and Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
opponents, gaining just 15% of the poll.
1922-1923
In 1922, Thompson faced a straight fight against the sitting ToryTory
Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...
MP, Colonel Charles Rosdew Burn, who was a distinguished ex-soldier and an Aide-de-camp
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
to the King
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
. In the absence of a Labour candidate Burn’s majority was reduced from the 10,039 he had obtained in 1918 to 1,251 or 4.4% of the poll.
Burn stood down from the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
at the 1923 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1923
-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...
. Thompson had another straight fight in Torquay this time against the new Conservative candidate Charles Williams
Charles Williams (UK politician)
Charles Williams PC was a Conservative Party politician in England. He was Member of Parliament for constituencies in Devon from 1918 to 1922, and from 1924 to 1955....
. In a tight contest, Thompson emerged as the winner by the narrow majority of 372 votes, just 1.2% of the total votes cast.
1924
At the 1924 general electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1924
- Seats summary :- References :* F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987* - External links :* * *...
Thompson faced the intervention of a Labour candidate, Arthur Moyle
Arthur Moyle, Baron Moyle
Arthur Moyle, Baron Moyle CBE was a British bricklayer, trade union official and politician. As a Member of Parliament for nineteen years, he was principally known for serving as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Clement Attlee during Attlee's Premiership...
, who later went on to be MP for Stourbridge
Stourbridge (UK Parliament constituency)
Stourbridge is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...
. Labour’s decision to stand was criticised by the Liberals as serving only to split the anti-Tory vote. Charles Williams renewed his attack on the seat for the Conservatives. The Tory revival in the country at large was repeated in Torquay and Williams obtained 55% of the poll to win by a majority of 6,161 over Thompson. Moyle came bottom of the poll, losing his deposit
Deposit (politics)
A deposit is a sum of money that a candidate must pay in return for the right to stand for election to certain political offices, particularly seats in legislatures.-United Kingdom:...
but it can hardly be contended that his intervention cost Thompson the seat. The level of support for Williams was too great and the Liberal Party’s decline was a national phenomenon.
1924-1940
After he lost in 1924 Thompson declined to stand again in Torquay. The local Liberal Association did however approach him again when they were looking for a new candidate after the 1929 general electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1929
-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...
but he was unwilling to take it on. Thompson made his home in Shipbourne
Shipbourne
Shipbourne lies in the English county of Kent, in an undulating landscape traversed by the small streams of the River Bourne, set in a clay vale at the foot of the wooded Sevenoaks Greensand Ridge....
near Tonbridge
Tonbridge
Tonbridge is a market town in the English county of Kent, with a population of 30,340 in 2007. It is located on the River Medway, approximately 4 miles north of Tunbridge Wells, 12 miles south west of Maidstone and 29 miles south east of London...
in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
and in 1936 accepted an invitation to become Liberal candidate for the Sevenoaks Division
Sevenoaks (UK Parliament constituency)
Sevenoaks is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
of Kent, although he never contested an election in the seat. In fact he never stood for Parliament again. He maintained his connection with Liberalism however and was sometime Honorary Secretary of the Home Counties Liberal Federation. He was also a member of the Executive Committee of the Proportional Representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
Society.