William Thomson (1746–1817) was a Scottish minister, historian and miscellaneous writer. He often wrote under the pseudonym of Captain Thomas Newte and this fictitious character had his own history and received independent recognition.
Life
Born in the parish of
Forteviot, Perthshire, he was son of Matthew Thomson, builder, carpenter, and farmer, by his wife, who was the daughter of the schoolmaster of Avintully, near
Dunkeld, with surname Miller. Educated at the parish school,
Perth grammar school, and
St. Andrews University, he became librarian at
Dupplin Castle, Perthshire, to
Thomas Hay, 9th Earl of Kinnoull. The Earl encouraged him to study for the
Church of Scotland, and promised him a parish in his patronage. Completing his theological studies at St. Andrews and Edinburgh, Thomson was ordained on 20 March 1776 assistant to James Porteous, the minister of Monivaird, Perthshire; but his habits and tastes clashed with the post. After complaints by parishioners, he resigned on 1 October 1778, and went to London as a man of letters.[1]
At first unsuccessful, Thomson depended on an income from the Earl of Kinnoull. On 31 October 1783 he received an honorary degree of LL.D. from
Glasgow University, and shortly found plenty of work.[1] In 1790 he supported
John Leslie by giving him work.[2] Shortly afterwards he joined the circle of
Joseph Johnson.[3]
Thomson died at his house at
Kensington Gravel Pits, on 16 February 1817.[1]
Captain Thomas Newte
Newte was fictionally born in
Devonshire in 1752, therefore being slightly younger than the true Thomson. He claimed to be a landowner in Devonshire and to own several ships run by the
East India Company. In 1793 "Newte" was elected a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh during a visit to that city. His proposers were
Dugald Stewart, Sir James Hall, and
John Playfair.[4]
The notable book published (to much acclaim) by Newte was Prospects and Observations on a Tour of England and Scotland published in 1791.[5]
Works
Thomson made a reputation with his continuation of
Robert Watson's History of Philip III of Spain, 1783, for which he wrote the fifth and sixth books. During the rest of his life, he wrote pamphlets, memoirs, biographies, voyages, travels, and treatises. He tried novels and dramas, collaborated with others, and used pseudonyms.[1]
The Man in the Moon, a satirical novel in the style of
Jonathan Swift, 1783.
History of Great Britain from the Revolution of 1688 to the Accession of George I, 2 vols. 1787, from the Latin manuscript of
Alexander Cunningham. This translation was carried out for
Thomas Hollingbery.[6] Thomson confused the issue of the authorship in his introduction: he argued, wrongly and in a way that could be refuted from the extant wills, that the author was the same person as
Alexander Cunningham of Block the critic (1655?–1730). He had supporters including
Samuel Parr for his theory, which did not last into the 19th century.[7]
Memoirs of the War in Asia from 1780 to 1784, 2 vols. 1788.
Appeal to the People on behalf of Warren Hastings, 1788.
Mammuth, or Human Nature displayed on a grand scale, in a Tour with the Tinkers into the Central Parts of Africa, 1789.
A Tour in England and Scotland by an English Gentleman, 1789, enlarged into Prospects and Observations on a Tour in England and Scotland, by Thomas Newte, Esq., 1791. Newte's family owned the estate of
Duvale[8] in the parish of
Bampton, Devon and resided there or at nearby
Tiverton[9]
Memoirs of Sergeant Donald Macleod, 1791.
Travels into Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, by Andrew Swinton, 1792.
Introduction to the Trial of Mr. Hastings, 1796.
Memoirs relative to Military Tactics, 1805.
Travels in Scotland by James Hall, illustrated, 1807.
translated Travels to the North Cape, from the Italian of
Giuseppe Acerbi;
compiled under the name of Harrison a commentary on the Bible; and
edited Narrative of an Expedition against the revolted Negroes of Surinam, by
John Gabriel Stedman. It is now known that Thomson made significant changes to the manuscript, in producing the first edition.[10] Stedman rejected that first edition of 1795, requiring it to be destroyed, and the 1796 edition was based on both Thomson's work and the original.[11]
A five-act tragedy, Caledonia, or the Clans of Yore, appeared posthumously in 1818. Thomson prepared from 1790 to 1800 the historical part of Dodsley's Annual Register.[1]
Thomson was twice married, firstly to Diana Miltone, who was Scottish. His second wife was a novelist, who wrote The Labyrinth of Life and other works. There were children by both marriages.[1]
^Gray, Todd & Rowe, Margery (Eds.), Travels in Georgian Devon: The Illustrated Journals of The Reverend
John Swete, 1789–1800, 4 vols., Tiverton, 1999, p.54
^Lysons,
Samuel & [[Daniel Lysons
|Daniel]], Magna Britannia, Vol.6: Devon, London, 1822