View source for William Thomson (bishop)

{{Short description|Archbishop of York from 1862 to 1890}}
{{Other people|William Thomson}}
{{more footnotes|date=February 2012}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| honorific-prefix = {{pre-nominal styles|size=100%|MRevd|&RHPC}}
| name             = William Thomson
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|FRS|FRGS}}
| title            = [[Archbishop of York]]
| image            = William Thomson by A Bassano.jpg
| caption          = Thomson in 1883
| church           = [[Church of England]]
| province         = [[Province of York]]
| diocese          = [[Diocese of York]]
| elected          = 1862
| quashed          = 
| ended            = 1890 (death)
| predecessor      = [[Charles Longley]] 
| opposed          = 
| successor        = [[William Connor Magee]]
| other_post       = [[Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol]] 
<!---------- Personal details ---------->
| birth_name = 
| birth_date = {{birth date|1819|2|11|df=y}}
| birth_place =  [[Whitehaven]], [[Cumberland, England|Cumberland]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1890|12|25|1819|2|11|df=y}}
| death_place = 
| buried = [[Bishopthorpe]]
| nationality = 
| religion = [[Anglicanism|Anglican]]
| residence = 
| parents = 
| spouse = Zoë Skene
| children = 
| occupation = 
| profession = 
| education  = [[Shrewsbury School]]
| alma_mater = [[The Queen's College, Oxford]]
}}
[[File:William Thomson Vanity Fair 24 June 1871.jpg|thumb|right|{{center|"The Archbishop of Society"<br>As depicted by "Ape" ([[Carlo Pellegrini (caricaturist)|Carlo Pellegrini]]) in ''[[Vanity Fair (UK magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'', 24 June 1871}}]]
[[File:Memorial to Archbishop William Thomson in York Minster.jpg|thumb|Memorial to Archbishop William Thomson (d. 1890) in the south transept at [[York Minster]]]]

'''William Thomson''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|FRS|FRGS}} (11 February 1819 – 25 December 1890) was an English church leader, [[Archbishop of York]] from 1862 until his death.

==Biography==
===Early life===
He was born the eldest son of John Thompson [sic] of Kelswick House, near [[Whitehaven]], [[Cumberland, England|Cumberland]], and educated at [[Shrewsbury School]] and at [[The Queen's College, Oxford]], of which he became a scholar. He took his B.A. degree in 1840, and was soon afterwards made fellow of his college. He was ordained in 1842, and worked as a curate at Cuddesdon. In 1847 he was made tutor of his college, and in 1853 he delivered the [[Bampton lectures]], his subject being ''The Atoning Work of Christ viewed in Relation to some Ancient Theories''. These lectures established his reputation.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

===Career===
Thomson's activity was not confined to [[theology]]. He was made fellow of the [[Royal Society]] and the [[Royal Geographical Society]]. He also wrote a very popular ''Outline of the Laws of Thought'' (1842). He sided with the party at Oxford which favoured university reform, but this did not prevent him from being appointed provost of his college in 1855. In 1858 he was made preacher at [[Lincoln's Inn]] and a volume of his sermons was published in 1861. In the same year he edited ''Aids to Faith'', a volume written in opposition to ''Essays and Reviews'', the progressive sentiments of which had stirred up controversy in the [[Church of England]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

In December 1861 he became [[Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol]], and within a year he was elevated to [[Archbishop of York]]. In this position his moderate orthodoxy led him to join Archbishop [[Archibald Campbell Tait]] in supporting the [[Public Worship Regulation Act]], and, as president of the northern convocation, he came frequently into sharp collision with the lower house of that body. But if he thus incurred the hostility of the High Church party among the clergy, he was admired by the laity for his strong sense, his clear and forcible reasoning, and his wide knowledge, and he remained to the last a power in the north of England. In his later years he published an address read before the members of the [[Royal Society of Edinburgh]] (1868), one on ''Design in Nature'', for the Christian Evidence Society, which reached a fifth edition, various charges and pastoral addresses, and he was one of the projectors of the ''[[Speaker's Commentary]]'', for which he wrote the "Introduction to the [[Synoptic Gospels]]."{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

See the ''Quarterly Review'' (April 1892).{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

==Family==
His parents were John Thompson (sic, 1791–1878) and Isabella Thompson (–1847)
On 24 July 1855 in Oxford, Thomson married Zoë Skene daughter of [[James Henry Skene]] (1812–), British Consul at Aleppo.<ref>{{Cite web|title = 1848 – James Henry Skene: The Albanians|url = http://www.albanianhistory.net/texts19_1/AH1848_2.html|website = www.albanianhistory.net|access-date = 2015-07-25|first = Robert|last = Elsie|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150725162015/http://www.albanianhistory.net/texts19_1/AH1848_2.html|archive-date = 25 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title = Kathleen Scott, Part One by Louisa Young|url = http://the-history-girls.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/kathleen-scott-part-one-by-louisa-young.html|website = The History Girls| date=27 May 2012 |access-date = 2015-07-25}}</ref>

They had the following children:
*Ethel Zoë Thomson (1856–), who later edited Thomson's ''Life and Letters''.
*Wilfred Forbes Home Thomson (1858–1939)
*[[Jocelyn Home Thomson]] (1859–1908)
*[[Basil Thomson|Sir Basil Home Thomson]], [[Order of the Bath|KCB]] (21 April 1861 – 26 March 1939), a British [[intelligence officer]], police officer, prison governor, colonial administrator, and writer
* Zoë Jane Thomson (1862–)
* Beatrice Mary Thomson (1864–)
*[[Alexandra Thomson]] (1867–1907). Married Col. John Studholme (10 February 1863 – 26 May 1934)
*Madeline Ita Mary Thomson (1880–)
*[[Bernard Henry Home Thomson]] (1874–1924), his granddaughter is the author [[Rose Tremain]], and his great grandchildren are Rachael Daniel, Tamsin Daniel, Cléon Daniel, and Sebastian Daniel.

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==References==
*{{cite DNB|wstitle=Thomson, William (1819-1890)|display=Thomson, William (1819–1890)|volume=56|first=Edward Irving |last=Carlyle}}
*{{cite ODNB|first1=E. I.|last1= Carlyle|title=Thomson, William (1819–1890)|first2= H. C. G.|last2= Matthew|id=27330}}

===Attribution===
*{{1911|wstitle=Thomson, William|volume=26}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline|William Thomson (bishop)}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|en}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Charles Baring]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol]]|years=1861–1862}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Charles Ellicott]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Charles Longley]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Archbishop of York]]|years=1862–1890}}
{{s-aft|after=[[William Connor Magee]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Bishops of Gloucester and Bristol}}
{{Archbishops of York}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, William}}
[[Category:1819 births]]
[[Category:1890 deaths]]
[[Category:Archbishops of York]]
[[Category:People from Whitehaven]]
[[Category:People educated at Shrewsbury School]]
[[Category:Bishops of Gloucester and Bristol]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society]]
[[Category:19th-century Anglican archbishops]]
[[Category:Alumni of the Queen's College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Queen's College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Provosts of the Queen's College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:19th-century Anglican theologians]]