V T THOMPSON(1862-1946) - A SPORTING YOUTH (1873 -1888)
- keith.gregson
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
A few weeks ago, I was contacted by Charles Thompson – a descendant of shipbuilders Robert Thompson Senior and junior and grandson of shipbroker V T Thompson. He wanted to know if we had anything on his grandfather’s links to Ashbrooke. Indeed we do – and it is quite a story!
BIRTH AND EARLY LIFE
Viginti Tertius Thompson (1862 -1946) was born in Southwick ( now part of the City of Sunderland) and had his birth registered in Sunderland. He was the son of prominent ship builder Robert Thompson junior. He seems to have taken an interest in sport from a very early age. He was only 11 when he acted as cox for Sunderland’s successful men’s four at the Durham Regatta. He attended Highgate Boarding School in London and there are newspaper reports of him playing cricket for the school against past pupils in 1878 and taking part as a former pupil in races two years later. By then he may have already started to play rugby for the prestigious Rosslyn Park Football Club as he represented the club in athletic races in 1880. At the age of 18, he was boarding in Hampstead with his cousin Joseph Lowes Thompson of JLT fame. They were probably involved in the London end of the family shipping business at the time.
ROSSLYN PARK (1881 – 1883)
Viginti seems to have played a number of games for both the 1st and 2nd XVs over a period of two years and was clearly a swift and clever back with an efficient boot. He was singled out for good play in a number of newspaper reports. He played well for the 1st XV against Stonebridge in October 1881 and against Walthamstow and St Thomas’s for the 2nd XV before the turn of the year. In May 1882, he was awarded his club cap and continued to impress particularly against Upper Clapton and Ealing half way through the 1882/3 season. During the summer months of 1882 he continued to race across short distances at a number of sports including some in his native Sunderland.
SUNDERLAND AND DURHAM COUNTY (1883 -1888)
Some guesswork may be applied here. In June 1883 he was appointed to the Rosslyn Park committee yet there is no sign of him playing for the club again. In all likelihood he was called back to Sunderland to work for the family company from ‘base camp’. From this time onwards all reports related to him are of matches linked to Sunderland and its parent county Durham. In November 1883 he played in club victories against old rivals Westoe and Durham City. During the following season he registered a beautiful drop goal against Westoe and also attended the club’s annual ball. However, the high points of his rugby career appear to have come in his last two playing seasons. In October 1886 he scored a try against Westoe and did the same for the Possibles in a county trial match. In November he was travelling reserve for the Durham v Yorkshire match. At this point Sunderland was one of the best sides in the North of England and Viginti was playing alongside an England representative and two Barbarians. Early in 1887 he was selected to play for the county against Northumberland and the mighty Middlesex of Gould and Stoddart.
The 1887/88 season was a massive one in club history and Viginti Thompson had a significant role in it. After the end of the 1886/7 season Sunderland FC joined forces with Sunderland Cricket Club and moved from Chester Road to a new ground in the Ashbrooke area of Sunderland. Thus, Sunderland C C and F C was born. During the first practice match of the season at Ashbrooke ( where the clubs still play rugby and cricket today) Viginti was reported as breaking his collar bone and causing an abandonment of the session. He was probably the first rugby player to be mentioned in the Ashbrooke era ( now approaching 140 years). The injury cannot have been that bad as he was back in the 1st XV playing two games in December 1887 against Tynedale Wanderers. In the team at the same time was future England international, Barbarian and British Lion Howard Marshall. In January 1888 Viginti played against an Old Millhillians side which featured future Barbarians’ founder Percy Carpmael. Also on the Sunderland team was future Barbarian Tom Parker. Later that month Viginti played for Durham County against Lancashire. The match was deemed a draw after a disputed Lancashire try was ruled out. In February he played in a local derby away to Hartlepool Rovers. A crowd of 5,000 was reported with Viginti starring in a narrow loss. He was also mentioned positively for his performance for Durham County in a victory over Northumberland and for Sunderland against Boldon in the County Cup. By the beginning of the following season, he had moved to umpiring and his playing days appear to have been over.
From May 2027 to May 2028, we will be celebrating 140 years of sport at Ashbrooke and V T Thompson had a massive role to play in a number of Ashbrooke ‘firsts’. As noted above he became the first rugby player to deserve a mention at Ashbrooke – because of an injury. This was in October 1887. However, he had already been busy on the Ashbrooke sporting front before then. On Ashbrooke’s opening day, 30 May 1887, he took part in the very first Whit Sports and was victorious in the shot putt. He was less successful on the following day when he tripped over a hurdle in the hurdle race. On 11 June 1887 he had played cricket for Sunderland 1st XI against Durham University in the first ever cricket match played at Ashbrooke and seems to have continued to play across the summer. In both cricket and rugby, he was captained by England Rugby international Charles Elliot. On 12 July he played tennis for the club against Old Durham. His partner was solicitor F J McKenzie. This was only the second time tennis had been played on the ground. His name does not appear on the list for the first match a week earlier.
A truly remarkable sporting career!
From his e-mail address it would seem that VTT’s grandson who contacted me is or was heavily involved in Steadfast Productions and ‘television programme production activities’.
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