Katherine Thomson (1797–1862) (née Byerley, also as Mrs A. T. Thomson, pseudonym Grace Wharton) was an English writer, known as a novelist and historian.

Life

She was the seventh daughter of Thomas Byerley of Etruria, Staffordshire, a nephew by marriage and sometime partner and manager of the pottery works of Josiah Wedgwood. Her sister was Maria Byerley who founded a school.[1] She married, in 1820, the physician Anthony Todd Thomson, as his second wife.[2] During their residence in London, for some of the time at Hinde Street, Marylebone, she and her husband assembled an artistic and literary circle, among their earlier friends being Thomas Campbell (poet), David Wilkie (artist), James Mackintosh, Francis Jeffrey, Lord Jeffrey, and Lord Cockburn. Later, in Welbeck Street, they saw much of Thackeray, Robert Browning, and also of Edward Bulwer-Lytton, who became a close friend.

After her husband's death in 1849 she lived abroad for some years. In 1860, she suffered the drowning of her son, John Cockburn Thomson.[3] She returned to London, and died at Dover on 17 December 1862.

Works

Biographies

At her husband's suggestion, Thomson began biographical compilation, starting with a brief Life of Wolsey for the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, in 1824. She developed anecdotal biography, as used by Isaac D'Israeli, John Heneage Jesse, and Agnes Strickland. It gave her material for a series of historical novels, anticipating those of Emma Marshall.

Thomson's main historical and biographical compilations were:

Novels

Mrs. Thomson also wrote:

  • Constance (novel), 1833, 3 vols.
  • Rosabel, 1835.
  • Lady Annabella, 1837.
  • Anne Boleyn, 1842, several editions.
  • Widows and Widowers, 1842, several editions.
  • Ragland Castle, 1843.
  • White Mask, 1844.
  • The Chevalier, 1844 and 1857.
  • Tracey; or the Apparition, 1847.
  • Carew Ralegh, 1857.
  • Court Secrets, 1857, dealing with the story of Caspar Hauser.
  • Faults on Both Sides, 1858.

Co-authorship

Under the pseudonym of Grace Wharton she was joint author with her son, John Cockburn Thomson, of

The Byerley family were descended from Robert Byerley (1660–1714), a Member of Parliament; he married Mary, daughter of Philip Wharton and great-niece of Philip Wharton, 4th Baron Wharton. This relationship was the source of the pseudonyms taken by Katherine Thomson and her son.

Family

Her marriage produced three sons, including Henry William Thomson, and five daughters.[2]

References

  • "Thomson, Katharine" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.

Notes

  1. Sutherland, Gillian (2004). "Byerley, Maria (1787–1843), schoolmistress". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/51763. Retrieved 27 March 2021. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. 1 2 "Thomson, Anthony Todd" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
  3. Appletons' annual cyclopaedia and register of important events of the year: 1862. New York: D. Appleton & Company. 1863. p. 694.
Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Thomson, Katharine". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.

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