Francis Joseph Thompson was born on 1859 December 18 in Lancashire, England, to Charles and Mary Turner Morton Thompson. Thompson's sisters Mary (later Mother Mary Austin) and Margaret were born in 1861 and 1863 respectively. After Mary Turner’s death, Charles Thompson married Anne Richardson and had one more son, Norbert. Both of Francis Thompson's parents were converts to Roman Catholicism, joining the faith in support of Cardinal Newman as a result of the Oxford Movement.

Beginning in 1870, Thompson attended St. Cuthbert's College and then Ushaw College in order to pursue an education that would lead to the priesthood. While at St. Cuthbert's Thompson began his life-long habit of keeping notebooks documenting his daily activities and his literary efforts. These notebooks would total over a hundred by the end of his life.

Thompson decided against pursuing a religious life and left Ushaw College in 1877 to follow in his father's footsteps as a doctor. He began medical school at Owens College, University of Manchester but struggled with his studies. After a long illness, followed by the death of his mother in 1880, Thompson became addicted to opium and ultimately left medical school.

In 1885 Thompson moved to London where he was unable to obtain work and began to live on the streets. In 1887 Thompson sent manuscripts of several poems to Wilfrid Meynell, editor of Merry England, a Catholic literary journal. Meynell published the poem "The Passion of Mary,” which began a lifelong friendship between the two.

In 1888, due in large part to the support of Meynell and his wife Alice, a poet and critic, Thompson went into a rehabilitation center in order to overcome his opium addiction. During this time, Thompson wrote two of his best-known poems, "Ode to the Setting Sun" and "The Hound of Heaven," both of which explore the theme of Christian rebirth and a rediscovery of God's goodness.

Throughout the 1890s Thompson worked closely with the Meynells, writing poetry, book reviews, and essays for Merry England as well as other London literary journals. He also spent time at the Guildhall Library and the National Gallery researching ancient belief systems and their symbolism.

By 1892 Thompson was again taking opium, and the Meynells suggested that he spend time at a Franciscan friary in north Wales in order to recover. Thompson spent the next four years there, where he was greatly inspired by the scenery and was immensely productive. Thompson's first volume of poetry, Poems, was published in 1893 to mixed critical reaction. Sister Songs followed in 1895 and New Poems was published in 1897. Both volumes received somewhat poor critical reception. In 1898 Thompson joined the staff of The Academy, and he began contributing to Athenaeum around the same time. His publications after 1897 shifted from a mixture including poetry to become predominantly literary criticism and scholarly essays, including on St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. John Baptist de La Salle, and Percy Bysshe Shelley.

During the late 1890s Thompson developed a close friendship with Katharine “Katie” Douglas King. Thompson shared King's concern for the London poor and her love of writing. King's death in 1900 left Thompson in a state of depression and he once again began to take opium.

Thompson died on 1907 November 13 at the Hospital of St. John and St. Elizabeth, London, and was buried on November 16 at Kensal Green Roman Catholic cemetery. His papers, including manuscripts and notebooks, passed to Wilfrid Meynell, who edited the poetry and prose for a posthumous publication, Works of Francis Thompson, in 1913.

Sources:

Boardman, Brigid M. Between Heaven and Charing Cross. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1988.

Boardman, Brigid M. "Thompson, Francis Joseph (1859-1907)." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Ed. H.C.G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. 24 Jan. 2006 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/36489].

Thomson, John. Francis Thompson, The Preston-born Poet. 2d ed. London: Simpkin Marshall Hamilton Kent, 1912.