Author: Thompson, R.
Biography:
THOMPSON, R. (fl 1771-93)
Given the Gagging Acts and high levels of anti-Jacobin sentiment in Britain in 1793, it is not surprising that A Tribute to Liberty in various incarnations tended to appear without the name of an author or publisher on the title-page or even, in later versions, the place and date of publication. Those held responsible would be liable to prosecution. But the sarcastic, inflammatory preface was reprinted in all editions over the name of “R. Thompson” and one rare 1793 imprint at the Bodleian Library (and now in ECCO) identifies the London publishers as Thomson, 4 Bull Yard, Temple-Bar, and Hamilton, Holborn. This is probably deliberately misleading: R. Thompson was a London printer with premises at 4, Bell Yard, Temple Bar, at the time. In 1792 he published and perhaps wrote the anonymous pamphlet Rights and Duties of Man, United by “a Citizen of London.” It is not clear to what extent the “original” songs in the Tribute are his work as author and not merely editor, but some certainly were. Some ballads, such as “Human Debasement: A Fragment,” appeared separately as broadsides under his name. The first song in the collection, “God save The Rights of Man”—which some members of the London Corresponding Society had been reprimanded for having Thompson print at the Society’s expense a year before—shares only the first nine lines with the version published as an “Ode” by Philip Freneau (q.v.) which probably built on Thompson’s original. Next to nothing is known about Robert Thompson. He might have been a Scot. He had come to public attention in 1771 when, based at 70 Newgate St. as printer of the Gazetteer and New Daily Advertiser from 1771 to 1775, he had defied a summons to appear before the House of Commons to defend his reports of the debates. John Wheble (1746-1820), printer of the Middlesex Journal, did the same. Neither man could be found by bailiffs. A proclamation was therefore issued for their arrest, with a bounty of £50 each. Both were apprehended and brought before two sympathetic London aldermen (Wheble got John Wilkes, q.v.) who released them as illegally detained, but gave certificates of the arrests so that those responsible could claim the reward. (ancestry.com 25 Aug. 2024; findmypast.com 25 Aug. 2024; Annual Register for 1771 [1772], 183-8; “Unicorn, 37 Henrietta Street,” 1790salehouse.com; “John Wheble,” Wikipedia 25 Aug. 2024) HJ