Thomas perronet thompson biography of christopher

His mother was the granddaughter of Vincent Perronet, vicar of Shoreham and associate of John Wesley. Thompson gained the BA degree in , and was elected to a fellowship of his college in He joined the navy as midshipman but transferred to the army three years later.

Thomas perronet thompson biography of christopher: Dictionary of National Biography,

He was commissioned as second lieutenant in The following year Perronet Thompson became the first crown-appointed governor of Sierra Leone. The colony had been established in by William Wilberforce and the Clapham Set. According to Michael J. Turner , the colony was formed "as a place where free black people would cultivate the land, carry on profitable trade, and demonstrate to the world that they were not peculiarly suited to slavery, despite the claims of slave traders".

When the Clapham Sect transferred Sierra Leone to the crown, the British government accepted Wilberforce's suggestion that Perronet Thompson would be a suitable governor. As governor Perronet Thompson introduced an extensive range of reforms and made serious allegations against the colony's former administrators. Stephen Tomkins , the author of William Wilberforce has argued: "He Perronet Thompson single-handedly abolished apprenticeship and freed the slaves.

He filed scandalised reports to the colonial office.