Edward Thompson (Royal Navy officer)

Edward Thompson (c. 1738– 17 January 1786) was an English Royal Navy officer who rose to the rank of captain, known also as a literary figure with the nickname "Poet Thompson".

Life

The son of a merchant of Kingston upon Hull, he received his early education at Beverley, and later at Hampstead under Dr. Cox, formerly of Harrow School. He is said to have made a voyage to Greenland in 1750. In 1754 he was on board an East Indiaman and made a voyage to the East Indies. On his return to England he entered on board HMS Stirling Castle, a 64-gun-ship, as a midshipman. Two years later, on 16 November 1757, he passed his examination and was promoted to be lieutenant of HMS Jason, in the North Sea and the Channel; ten days later, in December 1758, he was moved into HMS Dorsetshire with Captain Peter Denis. During the Seven Years' War he was in the long blockade of Brest through the summer of 1759, and was present at the Battle of Quiberon Bay on 20 November in March 1760 he accompanied Denis to HMS Bellona, in which he stayed till the end of the war. He was then put on half-pay, and took on the role of man of letters.^[1]

On 10 January 1771, perhaps through the influence of

In 1782 he was appointed to the 50-gun HMS Grampus, in which he went out to the west coast of Africa as commodore of the small squadron there. He died, unmarried, on board the Grampus on 17 January 1786. His portrait was engraved by A. McKenzie.^[1]

Works

His anonymous satire The Meretriciad (1755?), in which he celebrated the charms of

His 'Sailor's Letters, written to his Select Friends in England during his Voyages and Travels in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, from the year 1754 to 1759' (2 vols. 1767), which depicts the social life of the navy, as well as giving an account of the battle of Quiberon Bay. Thompson also edited the Works of John Oldham (3 vols. 1771); of Andrew Marvell (3 vols. 1776); and of Paul Whitehead (1777). He wrote sea songs including 'Loose every Sail to the Breeze,’ and 'The Topsail shivers in the Wind.'

In 1773 he altered from the old play of Charles Shadwell 'The Fair Quaker: or the Humours of the Navy,’ which was produced at Drury Lane on 11 November 1773 and then printed. Jane Pope played the title rôle and the revival was a success. In 1775 he published 'The Case and Distressed Situation of the Widows of the Officers of the Navy,’ dated from 'St. James's Street,’ and in the following year his two-act masque called 'The Syrens,’ which was given at Covent Garden, and printed during 1776. The dedication, to Mrs. Vaughan, is dated from Kew.^[1]

In 1784 he visited Charles Murray, the British consul at Madeira, and while there wrote his 'nautic poem' entitled 'Bello Monte,’ in which he describes the discovery of the island.^[1]

References

Attribution

• Laughton, John Knox (1898). "Thompson, Edward" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 56. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 209–210.

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Laughton, John Knox (1898). "Thompson, Edward". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 56. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 209–210.