THOMPSON, Andrew Green (1820-1889), of The Hollins, Keswick, Cumberland

Thompson, who is not listed in Michael Stenton’s Who’s who of British Members of Parliament, 1832-1885 (1976), was a ‘well known figure throughout the county of Cumberland’, who sat briefly as Conservative MP for Cockermouth.1Glasgow Herald, 1 May 1889. His father, Andrew Green, who was a lessee of the Wyndham fisheries in Cumberland, had unsuccessfully contested Cockermouth as a Reformer at the 1832 general election.2R.S. Ferguson, Cumberland and Westmoreland MPs from the Restoration to the Reform Bill of 1867 (1871), 448; Morning Chronicle, 12 Dec. 1832. Following a lengthy career in the army, in 1855 Thompson succeeded to the Cumberland estates of his maternal uncle, Henry Teshmaker Thompson. He took the surname Thompson in compliance with his uncle’s will.3Edinburgh Gazette, 24 July 1855. He was chairman of the Cumberland Union Banking Company, and a director of the Caledonian Railway, the West Cumberland Iron and Steel Company, and the Keswick Hotel Company.4Glasgow Herald, 1 May 1889. A prominent figure in Cockermouth politics, at the 1859 general election he issued an address but withdrew before the poll.5Morning Post, 19 Apr. 1859; The Times, 28 Apr. 1859.

In April 1868 Thompson offered for a vacancy at Cockermouth following the death of the sitting member. Accused by his Liberal opponent of being merely a ‘nominee’ of the Lonsdale interest based at Cockermouth Castle, Thompson endured a difficult canvass, but following a hard fought campaign he was returned by a majority of twenty-six votes.6The Times, 18 Apr., Lancaster Gazette, 25 Apr. 1868.

Thompson is not known to have spoken in the Commons, but his votes against Gladstone’s Irish church proposals, 30 Apr. 1868, and the representation of the people (Scotland) bill, 25 June 1868, reflected his Conservative loyalties. He retired at the 1868 general election, believing that he had no chance of success after Cockermouth’s representation was reduced from two seats to one.7A.G. Thompson to the earl of Lonsdale, 30 August 1868, Cumb. RO, D LONS/L1/2/126. He remained active in local politics, however, and was president of the Cockermouth Conservative Association.8Glasgow Herald, 1 May 1889. He died in April 1889, leaving estate valued at £21,658 6s. 10d.9England and Wales, National Probate Calendar, Index of wills and administration, 1861-1941, 4 July 1889. He was succeeded by his son, Andrew Green Thompson, a lieutenant-colonel in the 6^th Inniskilling dragoons. Thompson’s correspondence with the earl of Lonsdale concerning his retirement in 1868 is located at the Cumbria Record Office.10Cumb. RO, D LONS/L1/2/126.