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Clan Thompson Society

Clan Thom(p)son

               Society

Clan Thom(p)son

               Society

   We have come a long way since February 2008!   

    Clan Thom(p)son Society held its inaugural general membership meeting May 30, 2008 at Glasgow, KY. The Society members voted, by mail and those present, to accept the proposed  bylaws and for the directors and officers.  We are now an official organization supporting the establishing of Clan Thom(p)son and educating the public on Thom(p)son history and genealogy.

    We have submitted to Lord Lyon requesting recognition of Thomson as a name on its own and representing Scottish Thoms worldwide.  If he concurs, we will be considered an honorable community and can eventuallyconvene a derbhfine to elect a commander or chieftain to guide the clan until the chiefly line can be determined and a chief appointed by Lord Lyon.

    In our previous communications with Lord Lyon, he had requested further research validating Thomson families in Lothian and the Borders.  I have included examples of Thomson families being recognized by both the English and Scottish sovereigns.

   In every war-torn battlefield, the survivors are frequently faced with a conflict of loyalties.  The Thomsons of the west Marche were no different and often sided with the likely winner or even more commonly with their own kin and neighbors.  The Eskdale families (which included Thomsons) were forced into this condition after James V treacherously hanged the Armstrong leaders and supporters on 26 July, 1530.  With their homes and farms destroyed, the only means of livelihood was the reiving and raiding of more prosperous communities south of the Border.  The English Lord Wharton reported, “ The Batysons and Thomsons of Eskdale, have burnt a town called Grange, with all the corn therein, and brought away nolt (cows) and other goods amounting to eche of them in their dividing 8 shillings.” Again in the 1540’s, Lord Wharton reported, “The Batysons, Thomsons and Lytles of Esskdayle, Ewesdaill and Wacopdale burnt a town on the Water of Dryff called Blendallbush, and brought away 16 oxen and Keyne, some nags and with all the insight of the town.” Subsequently, in 1544, Lord Wharton invaded Scotland and brought the Scottish families ruthlessly to heel, even persuading some of them, under an English assurance, to restrict their raids to their fellow Scots.  In a report to the Earl of Shewsbury, Lord Wharton wrote, ”hundrethe of the Batysons of Eskdaill and the Thomsons, brent