Peter Thompson

THOMPSON, Peter, 1735-1814. Major of the 1st Royal Surrey Regiment. Thompson occupied what became Dulwich Lodge in Half Moon Lane from 1787 to 1792, then moved to Pond House where he stayed until 1807. He was court-martialled in 1812 for false certification of musters, ie putting more names on the company roll than were soldiers. He was under the impression he was allowed to do what was allegedly a long standing custom ‘sanctioned by senior officers’. Nonetheless Major Thompson was dismissed from the army but the court martial appealed to the Prince Regent for clemency as Thompson had ‘erred unintentionally’ and had already undergone a long term of imprisonment and had been an officer for 54 years ‘with honour and credit and irreproachable character’. However the Prince Regent confirmed the sentence but changed ‘dismissed’ to ‘removed’, a lesser charge which stopped him from being shamefully cashiered. Various insurance policies he held with the Sun Fire Office from 1788 to 1794 show Thompson also having an interest in a stave merchants premises in Rotherhithe, a hairdressers in Dulwich, and tenanted property in Poole, Dorset. He died in 1814 and is buried with his son in the Burial Ground.