Author: Thompson, William Gill
Biography:
THOMPSON, William Gill (1796-1844: findmypast.co.uk)
He was born at Newcastle upon Tyne, the son of Robert Thompson, a weaver, and Margaret Gill, whom he had married at All Saints, Newcastle, on 12 Jul. 1795. He was baptised at the same church on 31 Jul. 1796 and received his early education in Newcastle before being apprenticed to John Mitchell, printer and editor of the Tyne Mercury. After completing his apprenticeship, he stayed with Mitchell as a journeyman printer and reporter, and he began publishing poetry in periodicals. In Feb. 1820 he married Diana Seager; they had several children. He left the Tyne Mercury to work as a reporter for the Newcastle Chronicle, but he was dismissed—some accounts say this was because he had gone to a public house and failed to supply copy as promised. On 21 Oct. 1844 he committed suicide by cutting his throat in the water closet of the Literary and Philosophical Society; his body was not found for some days, and the event was widely reported in newspapers across England. His death left his family destitute and the Literary and Philosophical Society held a public meeting to determine what help could be offered. His widow lived to celebrate her hundredth birthday. He contributed verse to The Fishers Garland (1821-44) and published some other poems that are too short to be included in the database: Lines on the Death of Lord Byron (1824), A Poetical Address Delivered at the Anniversary Meeting of the Burns Club of Newcastle (1824), and Tribute to the Memory of the Late James Losh, Esq. (1833). He also wrote Sketches in Prose (1829) and a drama, Love in the Country (1831). (Richard Welford, Men of Mark ‘Twixt Tyne and Tweed [1895]; findmypast.co.uk 17 Nov. 2020; London Evening Standard 30 Oct. 1844; Newcastle Courant 8 Nov. 1844) SR
Other Names:
- W. G. Thompson