Henry Thompson MRCVS

Henry Thompson (MRCVS) (Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, 1836–1920) was a founder member of the Aspatria Agricultural Society, the Aspatria Agricultural Cooperative Society and the Aspatria Agricultural College.

Henry Thompson was born at Allonby, Cumberland, on 9 September 1836, the youngest of seven children, his father a poor country tailor, earned 9s (45p) per week. At the age of thirteen Thompson became apprentice to Joseph Slee, a Maryport druggist, working from four in the morning to nine in the evening. He later moved to Whitehaven to learn veterinary practice under John Fisher, the most qualified veterinary surgeon in Cumberland. After a further two years learning the basic practical skills associated with the equerry business at Carlisle, he enrolled at the Edinburgh Veterinary College, where he studied under Professor William Dick (1793–1866), the founder of the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies. After five years of intensive study he graduated with several coveted qualifications; the Diploma of the Highland and Agricultural Society, the examination of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, and the Royal Diploma. He became one of only two veterinary surgeons in Cumberland, to hold both Diploma's by examination. He obtained many academic distinctions including two silver medals for Anatomy and Physiology, and both first and second class certificates for Chemistry, Histology and Pathology.

On 4 June 1860, he arrived at Aspatria with ‘half-a-crown’ (12.5p) in his pocket to take up the position of junior partner in the towns veterinary practice. He befriended Sir Wilfrid Lawson, 2nd Baronet of Brayton and together they became two of the prominent members of the Wigton, and later Aspatria Farmers Club. In 1869, along with William Norman and John Twentyman, the ‘dauntless three’ as they became known, he organised the annual Aspatria Agricultural Show. In the following year the trio founded the Aspatria Agricultural Cooperative Society and in 1874 they established the Aspatria Agricultural and Commercial School, later renamed the Aspatria Agricultural College. In 1893, after the sale of the Agricultural School the outgoing directors and shareholders acknowledged his many hours of unpaid tuition with the presentation of a piano, and a gold watch.

...
Wikipedia