Pearson Thompson (14 April 1794 – 22 November 1872) was an English

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

and

property developer Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw Real Estate, land and the sale of developed land or parce ...

who was responsible for the layout of a great part of

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

, and of the

Ladbroke Estate The Ladbroke Estate was a substantial estate of land owned by the Ladbroke family in Notting Hill, West London in the early 19th century that was gradually developed and turned into housing during the middle years of the century, as London expan ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He subsequently emigrated to Australia where he practiced law. Thompson was the son of Henry Thompson and Judith, née Teshmaker. His father was a wealthy London merchant and underwriter who had bought a large piece of farmland near Cheltenham in 1801. Shortly after this, medicinal springs were discovered there and his father had developed the

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

Spa on the site. The first pump room was built in 1809. In early life Thompson practised as a solicitor in London, but after inheriting his father's property in 1820 moved to Cheltenham to develop the estate. Thompson employed J. B. Papworth as his architect from 1824 onwards for both the layout of the Montpellier estate and the design of the Montepellier Pump Room, which included a domed circular room that became known as the

Rotunda A rotunda () is any roofed building with a circular ground plan, and sometimes covered by a dome. It may also refer to a round room within a building (an example being the one below the dome of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.). ...

. In addition to creating the infrastructure, Thompson sought talent to support the spa's activities, for example Henry Davies, whom he bought from London to run a library and produce periodicals. Thompson owned the wealthy Lansdown district of Cheltenham, where Papworth also designed a number of large houses, including one for

Richard Roy Richard Roy is a Canadian director, actor and screenwriter. He has directed several feature films in French as well as television films and series for the English-language market. He was raised in the village of Saint-Agapit, in Lotbinière Reg ...

, a fellow developer. Both Thompson and Roy were members of a committee formed to provide fashionable public entertainments such as musical promenades and summer balls. In 1836 they were working together to consider the various proposals for railway lines to Cheltenham and founded a local joint-stock bank. Thompson also worked with the architects and developers R. W. and C. Jearrad, who took over the running of Montpellier Spa and designed Christ Church on land donated by Thompson. Thompson and Roy developed an estate in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

, and in 1841 and 1842 they lent money to John Duncan, who was developing the Ladbroke Estate. When Duncan went bankrupt the creditors put them both in charge of carrying out the development. The layout and general character of parts of the Ladbroke estate owe much to the Montpellier estate at Cheltenham. Thompson remained in Cheltenham at his home Hatherley Court, his principal role being to provide the capital. He was at this time Justice of the Peace for the County of

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

. Thompson's investment in the Ladbroke estate had "so involved his affairs as to compromise the whole of his property", and in 1849 he emigrated to Australia. He practiced at the bar in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

for a while, and then went to

Castlemaine, Victoria Castlemaine ( , Variation in Australian English, non-locally also ) is a town in west central Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, in the Goldfields region of Victoria, Goldfields region about 123 kilometres (76 miles) northwest by road ...

, which was the centre of a large goldmining district. He was very successful and became a magistrate. He died there in 1872. At the time of his death he was described as the "Maker of Cheltenham". He had married Dorothy Scott, daughter of William Scott of Austin Friars, at

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

in 1817 and had four children.

References

Online guide to Cheltenham

The Ladbroke estate: The 1840s', Survey of London: volume 37: Northern Kensington (1973), pp. 200–220

Death of Mr. Pearson Thompson, The Age, 25 November 1872, p. 3
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Pearson 1794 births 1872 deaths People from Cheltenham British real estate and property developers 19th-century Australian lawyers 19th-century British businesspeople British emigrants to Australia English justices of the peace