William Thompson
William Thompson (1775 or 1785 – 1833) was an influential Irish philosopher and social reformer, hailing from a wealthy merchant family in Cork. Known for his radical ideas, he became a prominent figure in the Cork Philosophical and Literary Society, which led to a rift with his family due to his reputation as a "red republican." After inheriting the family business in 1814, Thompson chose to personally manage a rural estate, contrasting sharply with the typical absentee landlord practices of his time. He introduced significant agricultural reforms and became well-regarded by his Catholic tenants, despite his outspoken atheism.
Thompson's work included the influential pamphlet "Practical Education for the South of Ireland" and his seminal book, "An Inquiry into the Principles and Distribution of Wealth Most Conducive to Human Happiness," published in 1824, which laid the groundwork for the Co-operative movement. He collaborated with Anna Doyle Wheeler on "An Appeal of One Half of the Human Race," a notable feminist text, and published "Labor Rewarded," which critiqued economic competition. Thompson’s writings called for reform over revolution, foreshadowing ideas later associated with Karl Marx. He lived a frugal life, was a vegetarian and teetotaler, and passed away from chest inflammation in 1833, leaving behind a legacy that would influence social and economic thought. His body was ultimately exhumed to fulfill the terms of his will for dissection, highlighting the complexities of his personal and intellectual life.
On this Page
Subject Terms
William Thompson
Economic Theorist
- Born: 1775
- Birthplace: Cork City, County Cork, Ireland
- Died: March 28, 1833
- Place of death: Rosscarbery, County Cork, Ireland
Biography
William Thompson was born in 1775 (some sources say 1785) in Cork, Ireland, the son of John Thompson, a wealthy merchant. While still young he became a prominent member of the Cork Philosophical and Literary Society, where he was branded a “red republican,” a reputation that estranged him from his family. In 1814, however, his father died and he inherited the family business. He was uninterested in the trading aspects of the business but it included a small rural estate, which he determined to run in person, in striking contrast to the common situation in the south of Ireland, where absentee landlords routinely exacted ruinous revenues from their tenants without a care for their welfare or the long-term sustenance of their assets.
Thompson established a model farm on the estate and introduced numerous significant agricultural reforms, becoming extremely popular with his Catholic tenants in spite of his loudly professed atheism. His pamphlet on Practical Education for the South of Ireland, issued in 1818, cemented his reputation as a renegade from his class and a man with direly dangerous ideas. In 1819, he was invited by Jeremy Bentham to stay with him in London, and he did so for four months. He met James Mill and other prominent reformers and became interested in the utopian ideas of Robert Owen.
Thompson published his most significant and original work, An Inquiry into the Principles and Distribution of Wealth Most Conducive to Human Happiness, in 1824. It laid down the fundamental ideas of the Co-operative movement, a philosophy that was to prove enormously important on the British mainland in the latter part of the century. He followed the book with An Appeal of One Half of the Human Race (1825), a classic feminist text written in collaboration with Anna Doyle Wheeler. Labor Rewarded: The Claims of Labor and Capital Conciliated, published in 1827, was a significant economic analysis which rejected the supposed benefits of economic competition, declaring that the ideology of competition was merely a mask for coercion and exploitation. The analysis anticipated Karl Marx but scrupulously demanded reform rather than revolution.
Thompson’s Practical Directions for the Speedy and Economical Establishment of Communities on the Principle of Mutual Cooperation, issued in 1830, extended the theory that would eventually fuel and underlie the Co-operative movement. He also helped to establish the Co-operative Magazine but did not live to see his work take full effect. He never married and lived very frugally; he was a nonsmoker, a teetotaler, and a vegetarian. Thompson died on March 28, 1833, of an inflammation of the chest. His story did not end there, however; he was buried, in spite of his declared wishes, and had to be exhumed again so that the terms of his will could be fulfilled and his corpse dissected in the cause of medical science.