Reference code: GB-0298-UC/P39
Title: Francis Thompson Papers
Dates of creation: 1871-2006
Extent: 2 files
Held by: Ushaw
Origination: Francis Joseph Thompson
Language: English
Francis Thompson was born in Preston, Lancashire, in 1859. Educated at Ushaw College, he left in 1877 to begin medical training at Owens College, Manchester. In 1883, he went to London where he ended up homeless and addicted to opium. His poetry
was brought to the attention of William Meynell, the editor of the Catholic literary journal,
Merry England, and he recuperated in the Premonstratensian priory in Storrington, Sussex. This was where he produced two of his best known literary efforts, the
Ode to the Setting Sun and
The Hound of Heaven. Thompson published several more poems before another bout of opium addiction brought him to the Franciscan friary at Pantasa, Flintshire, where he remained from 1892 until 1896. He continued to
publish poetry for the rest of his life which included an anthology
New Poems in 1897. Thompson died in November 1907 at the Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth, London, and was buried at Kensal Green Roman Catholic
cemetery.
Papers of, and relating to, Francis Thompson, including photographs, autographed manuscripts of his poems, printed volumes, and an essay by C.S. Breathnach.
Open for consultation.
Permission to make any published use of material from the collection must be sought in advance from ushaw.library@durham.ac.uk and, where appropriate, from the copyright owner. The Library will assist where possible with identifying copyright
owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material
Word processed list of contents
Boston College, Massachusetts
Correspondence and papers
Harris Library, Preston
Commonplace book, poetical MSS, letters; notebooks and literary MSS
Indiana University, Bloomington, Lilly Library
Correspondence and writings
The following are biographies of Francis Thompson:
B.M. Boardman,
Between heaven and Charing Cross: the life of Francis Thompson (1988)
J.E. Walsh,
Strange harp, strange symphony: the life of Francis Thompson (1968)
The letters of Francis Thompson, ed. J.E. Walsh (New York, 1969)
E. Meynell,
The life of Francis Thompson (1913)
V. Meynell,
Francis Thompson and Wilfrid Meynell (1952)
The poems of Francis Thompson, ed. B. Boardman (2001)
J. Thomson,
Francis Thompson, the Preston-born poet (1912)
UC/P39/1/1-7 [1870 x 1889] & 18 July 1945
Photographs of Francis Thompson as a young boy and adolescent, with a covering letter from Francis Dobson.
6 photographs and 1 letter
Presented to Ushaw College by Canon Francis Dobson, 18 July 1945.
UC/P39/2/8 1871
Copy of the 1871 Census schedule for Ushaw College with an entry for Francis Thompson (second from bottom).
1f
UC/P39/3/1-13 [1890 x 1899]
Autographed manuscript of
To the English Martyrs.
13f
Presented to Ushaw College by Wilfred Maynall, 1931.
UC/P39/4/1 [?1890 x 1899]
Francis Thompson (Elliott and Fry).
1 photograph
UC/P39/5/1-5 1894
Autographed manuscript of
Prose of Blessed Francis
5f
Presented to Ushaw College by Canon Francis Dobson, 1934.
UC/P39/6/1 [early 20th century]
Photograph of a bronze plaque of Francis Thompson.
The original plaque was mounted on Hopton Wood marble. It was commissioned by the Revds R. Bilsborrow and J.L. Prescott, and executed by W. Norris Simm of Preston Art Gallery. It was modelled on a sketch of the poet and a photograph taken years
earlier and is located in the Student's Common Room, Ushaw College.
1 photograph
UC/P39/7/1 [1907]
Obituary card for Thompson, commissioned by Francis Meynell.
1f
UC/P39/8/1-16 1908
Text of a slide-illustrated lecture on Francis Thompson by Rev Austin Richmond, parish priest of Ince Blundell.
16f
UC/P39/9/1 May 1936
Printed programme for a production of
The Hound of Heaven by The Grail, Royal Albert Hall.
xxii, 25p
UC/P39/10/1 1972
Francis Thompson,
The Hound of Heaven (London: Mowbray, 1972).
29p
UC/P39/11/1-3 [?2000 - 2005]
Photographs of Francis Thompson's grave in St Mary's cemetery at Kensal Green, London.
3 photographs
UC/P39/12/1-23 24 November 2006
Bound word-processed copy of an article by Caoimhghin S. Breathnach entitled
“Francis Thompson (1859-1907): a medical truant and his troubled heart”, later published in
Journal of Medical Biography, 16:1 (2006), p.57-62.
23f
UC/P39/13 [?1900]
Draft manuscript of Francis Thompson's
“Nisi Dominus”
1 sheet
