8th March 1777, aged 72. A Memoir, giving a full account of his trance, was published in the United States in 1847. 37*
Tennent, Sir James Emerson, Bart., son of William Emerson, was born in Belfast, 7th April 1794,7 and was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, where he took the degree of LL.D. He afterwards travelled on the Continent and took part in the war for the liberation of Greece, where he made the acquaintance of Lord Byron. In 1831 he was called to the English Bar, and in June of the same year married the heiress of a wealthy Belfast banker, whose name and arms he assumed. He entered Parliament as member for Belfast in 1832, and with some intermissions retained a seat until 1845, when he accepted the position of Colonial Secretary of Ceylon. He was knighted on his acceptance of this office, which he occupied until 1850. After his return he held several posts under Government, such as Secretary to the Poor-law Board and Secretary to the Board of Trade. In 1852 he re-entered Parliament as member for Lisburn. In 1867 he was created a baronet. The Annual Register says: "In politics Sir James was a Conservative of the English rather than the Irish type. In early life, indeed, he had been a Liberal of a somewhat advanced character, and he first entered Parliament as a reformer. He was, however, one of those who went over to the Tories about the same time with Lord Stanley, and during several sessions his votes were given on the Tory side; but in his advanced years he adhered to the policy of Sir Robert Peel, and it was from Lord Palmerston's government that he accepted his baronetcy." It is as an author that Sir James is best remembered. The History of Modern Greece (1833), according to one critic, "presents a mass of valuable information;" while, according to another, "it is thoroughly weak both in conception and execution, unpleasing in style, feeble in narrative, and full of portentous blunders." Incomparably the most important of his works is his Account of Ceylon, a finely illustrated book, published in 1859. It has gone through several editions, and was declared by the Edinburgh Review to be "the most copious, interesting, and complete monograph which exists in our language on any of the possessions of the British crown." His Story of the Guns, published in 1864, one of the lighter productions of his pen, advocated the merits of the Whitworth gun, in opposition to that invented by Sir William Armstrong. These are, however, only a few of his numerous publications. He died in London, 6th7 March 1869, aged 74. 7 16 40 116(39)
Thompson, William, an artist, born in Dublin in 1726, was the author of a work entitled The Principles of the Beautiful. He practised portrait painting in London, and his name appears in the catalogues of the several picture exhibitions from 1761 to 1776. Bryan says: "Though he was not considered a painter of the first eminence, his pictures possessed the merit of a faithful resemblance and a natural tone of colouring." He died in London in 1800. 277
Thompson, William, Brigadier-General in the American Revolutionary War, was born in Ireland. He was captain of horse in America during the French War (1759-'60). In June 1775 he was made colonel of one of the regiments of riflemen which marched to the camp at Cambridge, Massachusetts; and on 10th November his command had a skirmish with the British at Lechmere Point. He was made Brigadier-General the following March, and succeeded Lee in the command of New York. In April he was ordered to Canada to reinforce General Sullivan, by whose orders he attacked the enemy at Three Rivers, where he was taken prisoner. He was allowed to return to Philadelphia on parole, but was not exchanged for nearly two years. He died at his residence near Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 4th September 1781. 37*
Thompson, William, a naturalist, was born in Belfast, 2nd December 1805. [His father was a linen merchant, and at an early age he was himself apprenticed to the business.] His attention appears to have been turned to natural history by a copy of Bewick's Birds, after reading which most of his spare time was devoted to that study. For a while he carried on business on his own account ; but want of success induced him to give it up, and thenceforward science was not only the pleasure but the occupation of his life. In 1826 he joined the Natural History Society of Belfast; in 1833 he was chosen one of the Vice-Presidents, and in 1843, on the retirement of Dr. Drummond, was erected President. His systematic observations appear to have dated from 1833 from which time he continued steadily recording the occurrence of species previously unknown as Irish, and gradually accumulating the materials for an account of the fauna of Ireland. As his labours became known, correspondents in every part of the country sprang up, and information of the most varied character poured in upon him. He occasionally contributed papers to English societies, and an annual visit
