Thomas Hampson | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1839 Horwich, Lancashire, England |
| Died | 25 November 1918 (aged 79) Bolton, Lancashire, England |
| Nationality | English |
| Notable work |
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Thomas Hampson (1839 – 25 November 1918) was an English author and local historian.
He was born in Horwich in 1839,[1] the youngest child of Henry and Mary Hampson.[2][3] He was baptised at Holy Trinity Church, Horwich on 10 November 1839.[4] His father died in May 1842,[5] leaving his mother to bring up the children on her own.[6][7] He started work at Wallsuches bleach works in Horwich when he was seven-years-old.[1] He married Sarah Jane Aldred at Holy Trinity Church, Horwich on 2 April 1866.[8] They had three sons: John Henry, John Fox, and Benjamin, and three daughters: Clara, Mary Ann, and Eleanor.[9] After his marriage, he continued to be employed at the bleach works as a finisher,[10] but between 1877 and 1881 he lost a number of fingers on his left hand in a works accident which seems to have forced him into a clerical career.[1][11] He was a secretary at the short-lived Red Moss Ironworks, Horwich.[12] Then employed as a cashier, first at Scot Lane Colliery, Blackrod, then at Fourgates Colliery, Wingates, Westhoughton.[13]
It was around this period of his life he wrote a number of notable local history books. He published History of Blackrod in 1882,[14] Horwich: Its History, Legends, and Church in 1883,[15] and History of Rivington in 1893.[16][N1]
After Horwich Works were built by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) in 1886, he was employed as a labourer in the iron foundry,[17] then as a locomotive stores keeper.[13][18]
His wife, Sarah Jane, died in April 1907, aged 64,[9] and eleven years later Thomas died at Bolton Royal Infirmary on 25 November 1918, aged 79.[13] They are both buried in Holy Trinity Churchyard, Horwich.[9]