William Thompson : Low Country Poet : Poems from 1916

About the Book

Ballyfrench townland, County Down, is the most easterly point in Northern Ireland. Thompsons have lived there for generations.

When William Thompson was a wee boy, his oldest brother Robert went to sea. A few years later, in 1911, Robert drowned in an accident at Gloucester Dock in England. He was just 20 years old, and William was only 9. It had a devastating impact upon the family. A local man wrote a memorial poem about Robert which was framed and hung on the wall in the family home. But the family were poor and Robert's body was never brought back home to Ulster. He is buried in Tredworth Road Cemetery, Gloucester.

Then in 1916, a distant relative - James Thompson - was killed at the Battle of the Somme. So William, aged just 15, wrote a memorial poem which was also printed up and framed, and was given to James' family.

And so it went on. William wrote hundreds of poems which were published in local newspapers. But the most lasting legacy of his poetry was that he went door-to-door around the Ards Peninsula, selling small booklets of his poems for sixpence each. The money he raised was donated to the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution), and helped to fund the new local lifeboat at Cloughey. William knew the sorrow of losing a loved one at sea - he wanted to do what he could to prevent others going through the same pain.

So the book is a family memorial to William and his poetry, and also a fundraiser for the RNLI. It's how William would have wanted it. Make sure you get a copy!

Friday, 17 July 2009

The William Thompson Poems story so far...

Thanks for looking us up. It's been quite an adventure! The once-famous poems of a county Down farmer (our grandfather) all compiled and republished for a new generation:

- years of research
- original "sixpence" pamphlets discovered
- over 100 poems gathered up from folk in the local community
- book published Christmas 2007
- book launched February 2008 at Donaghadee Lifeboat Station
- hundreds of copies sold to raise funds for the RNLI
- free copies given to every school on the Ards Peninsula
- copies in every local library
- poems featured on BBC television show "Blue Peter"
- the finding of the grave of Robert Thompson in Gloucester
- the tragic story of his drowning aged just 20
- another long-lost poem discovered
- photographs of the Cloughey lifeboat discovered

With 107 poems in a baeutifully-presented softback, make sure you get your copy. All profits will go to the life-saving work of the RNLI.

Buy the Book

Previous Posts

About the Book

Analytics

Friday, 17 July 2009

The William Thompson Poems story so far...