Francis Thompson (historian)

English economic and social historian

Francis Michael Longstreth Thompson CBE FBA (13 August 1925 – 23 August 2017) was an English economic and social historian. He wrote several books.

Early life

The son of Francis Longstreth Thompson, he was educated at Bootham School, York; The Queen's College, Oxford, where he took a first-class BA in 1949; and Merton College, Oxford, from 1949 to 1951, taking a DPhil in 1956.

Career

He was Reader in Economic History at University College London in 1963. He became Professor of Modern History at Bedford College in 1968, and was from 1977 to 1990 director of the Institute of Historical Research, University of London.

He was president of the Royal Historical Society from 1989 to 1993.

He was best known for English Landed Society in the Nineteenth Century (1963), which made the role of the landed gentry a high-priority topic for agrarian and political history. He also studied urban middle and working classes, and suburbia. He added to the long-standing debate on British class history by new emphasis on "respectability." Thompson argued that it operated across class boundaries and provided a powerful stabilizing counterbalance to the working class upheavals of Victorian society. His model of society contradicted the more commonly employed Marxist assumptions. He opened up a field that has attracted many younger scholars.

Personal life

In 1951 Thompson married Anne Challoner; they had two sons and a daughter.

Thompson died on 23 August 2017, aged 92. Anne Thompson died on 27 March 2024.

Works

Victorian England: the horse-drawn society; an inaugural lecture (1970) at Bedford College LCCN 76-596277 ISBN 0900145048
English Landed Society in the Nineteenth Century (1963); 2013 edition. ISBN 0415848482.
Hampstead: Building a Borough, 1650–1964 (1974) LCCN 73-87319 ISBN 0710077475
The Rise of Suburbia (1982) editor LCCN 81-21304 ISBN 0312684339
Horses in European Economic History: a preliminary canter (1983) editor ISBN 0903269023
- summary from Carriage Association of America (CAA); abstract from Archaeology Data Service (ADS)
The Rise of Respectable Society: A Social History of Victorian Britain, 1830–1900 (1988) LCCN 88-14802 1988 pbk edition. Harvard University Press. 1988. ISBN 0-674-77285-7.
The University of London and the World of Learning, 1836–1986 (1990, editor); ISBN 1852850329
The Cambridge Social History of Britain, 1750–1950 (1990, three volumes) editor LCCN 89-9840
- vol. 1 ISBN 0521257883; vol. 2 ISBN 0521257891; vol. 3 ISBN 0521257905
Gentrification and the Enterprise Culture: Britain 1780–1980 (1993) Ford Lectures; 2001 edition. ISBN 0199243301. 2003 edition. ISBN 0199265607.
Landowners, Capitalists and Entrepreneurs: Essays for Sir John Habakkuk (1994, editor) ISBN 0198283016
English Landed Society Revisited: The Collected Papers of F. M. L. Thompson (2017, 2 vols.)
- vol. 1 ISBN 1911204637; vol. 2 ISBN 1911204653

References

Boyd, K. (1999). Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing. Vol. 1. Fitzroy Dearborn. p. 1190. ISBN 9781884964336. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
^ Levens, R.G.C., ed. (1964). Merton College Register 1900–1964. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. p. 398.
"Search results | The British Academy". britac.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
"List of Presidents". Royal Historical Society. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
Christine S. Hallas, "Thompson, F.M.L." in Kelly Boyd, ed. (1999). Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing, vol 2. Taylor & Francis. pp. 1189–90. ISBN 9781884964336.
^ "Francis THOMPSON Obituary - St Albans, Hertfordshire | The Times". legacy.com. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
Thompson
Robbins, Michael (1985). "review of Horses in European Economic History: A Preliminary Canter, edited by F. M. L. Thompson". The Antiquaries Journal. 65: 198–199. doi:10.1017/S0003581500025245. p. 199
Smith, D. A. (Spring 2003). "review of Gentrification and the Enterprise Culture: Britain, 1780-1980 by F. M. L. Thompson". Journal of Interdisciplinary History. 33 (4): 620–622.

External links

Page at The Institute of Historical Research

Academic offices
Preceded byGerald Aylmer	President of the Royal Historical Society 1989–1993	Succeeded bySir Rees Davies

v t e Presidents of the Royal Historical Society
1871–1872 George Grote 1873–1878 John Russell, 1st Earl Russell 1878–1891 Henry Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare 1891–1899 Sir M. E. Grant Duff 1899–1901 Sir Adolphus Ward 1901–1905 Sir George Prothero 1905–1909 William Hunt 1909–1913 William Cunningham 1913–1917 Sir Charles Firth 1917–1921 Sir Charles Oman 1921–1925 Sir John Fortescue 1925–1929 Frederick Tout 1929–1933 Sir Richard Lodge 1933–1937 Sir F. M. Powicke 1937–1945 Sir Frank Stenton 1946–1949 Robert William Seton-Watson 1949–1953 Theodore Plucknett 1953–1957 Hale Bellot 1957–1961 David Knowles 1961–1965 Sir Goronwy Edwards 1965–1969 Robin Humphreys 1969–1973 Sir R. W. Southern 1973–1977 Sir Geoffrey Elton 1977–1981 Sir John Habakkuk 1981–1985 Sir J. C. Holt 1985–1989 Gerald Aylmer 1989–1993 Michael Thompson 1993–1997 Sir Rees Davies 1997–2001 Sir P. J. Marshall 2001–2005 Dame Janet Nelson 2005–2008 Martin Daunton 2009–2012 Colin Jones 2012–2016 Peter Mandler 2016–2020 Margot Finn 2020-present Emma Griffin

Presidents of the Royal Historical Society

1871–1872 George Grote
1873–1878 John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
1878–1891 Henry Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare
1891–1899 Sir M. E. Grant Duff
1899–1901 Sir Adolphus Ward
1901–1905 Sir George Prothero
1905–1909 William Hunt
1909–1913 William Cunningham
1913–1917 Sir Charles Firth
1917–1921 Sir Charles Oman
1921–1925 Sir John Fortescue
1925–1929 Frederick Tout
1929–1933 Sir Richard Lodge
1933–1937 Sir F. M. Powicke
1937–1945 Sir Frank Stenton
1946–1949 Robert William Seton-Watson
1949–1953 Theodore Plucknett
1953–1957 Hale Bellot
1957–1961 David Knowles
1961–1965 Sir Goronwy Edwards
1965–1969 Robin Humphreys
1969–1973 Sir R. W. Southern
1973–1977 Sir Geoffrey Elton
1977–1981 Sir John Habakkuk
1981–1985 Sir J. C. Holt
1985–1989 Gerald Aylmer
1989–1993 Michael Thompson
1993–1997 Sir Rees Davies
1997–2001 Sir P. J. Marshall
2001–2005 Dame Janet Nelson
2005–2008 Martin Daunton
2009–2012 Colin Jones
2012–2016 Peter Mandler
2016–2020 Margot Finn
2020-present Emma Griffin

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