William Thomson, (11 February 1819 – 25 December 1890) was an English church leader, Archbishop of York from 1862 until his death.
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Biography
Early life
He was born the eldest son of John Thompson [sic] of Kelswick House, near Whitehaven, Cumberland, and educated at Shrewsbury School and at The Queen's College, Oxford, of which he became a scholar. He took his B.A. degree in 1840, and was soon afterwards made fellow of his college. He was ordained in 1842, and worked as a curate at Cuddesdon. In 1847 he was made tutor of his college, and in 1853 he delivered the Bampton lectures, his subject being The Atoning Work of Christ viewed in Relation to some Ancient Theories. These lectures established his reputation.
Career
Thomson's activity was not confined to theology. He was made fellow of the Royal Society and the Royal Geographical Society. He also wrote a very popular Outline of the Laws of Thought (1842). He sided with the party at Oxford which favoured university reform, but this did not prevent him from being appointed provost of his college in 1855. In 1858 he was made preacher at Lincoln's Inn and a volume of his sermons was published in 1861. In the same year he edited Aids to Faith, a volume written in opposition to Essays and Reviews, the progressive sentiments of which had stirred up controversy in the Church of England.