Denton Thompson

{{Short description|British bishop (1856–1924)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Portal|Christianity

}}{{Infobox Christian leader

| honorific-prefix = {{pre-nominal styles|RRevd}}

| birth_place =

| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|}}

| caption =

| title = Bishop of Sodor and Man

| diocese =

| term = 1912–1924 (death)

| predecessor = Thomas Wortley Drury

| successor = Charles Leonard Thornton-Duesbury

| other_post =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1856|7|20|df=y}}

| name = James Denton Thompson

| death_place =

| death_date = {{death date and age|1924|10|31|1856|7|20|df=y}}

| buried =

| nationality = British

| religion = Anglican

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| alma_mater = Liverpool Institute
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge

}}{{Infobox bishop styles

| bishop name = James Denton Thompson

| dipstyle = The Right Reverend

| offstyle = My Lord

| relstyle = Bishop

| image =

}}

James Denton Thompson (20 July 1856 – 31 October 1924) was the Bishop of Sodor and Man[http://www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/exans/19_p33.htm Manx Notebook] from 1912 until his death in 1924.The Times, Saturday, Nov 1, 1924; pg. 14; Issue 43798; col B "Obituary. Death Of Dr. Denton Thompson., A Central Churchman."

Thompson was and educated at the Liverpool Institute and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.{{acad|id=THM879JD|name=Thompson, James Denton}}The Times, Tuesday, Jun 20, 1882; pg. 8; Issue 30538; col C University Intelligence He was ordained in 1883 "The Clergy List, Clerical Guide and Ecclesiastical Directory" London, Hamilton & Co 1889 and held curacies at St James, Didsbury and St Saviour's, Liverpool.{{cite book | last=Malden Richard (ed) | first=| author-link= | title= Crockford's Clerical Directory for 1920 (51st edn) | location= London | publisher= The Field Press| pages=1404| year=1920 | isbn=}} From 1886 to 1889 he was Clerical Superintendent of the Church of England Scripture Readers’ Society. After this he held incumbencies in Bootle,The Times, Thursday, Nov 13, 1890; pg. 10; Issue 33168; col F Ecclesiastical Appointments North Meols[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=41325 British History On-Line] and Birmingham before ordination to the episcopate.{{cite web |url=http://www.feegan.com/manx/bishops.php |title=Bishops of Sodor and Man |accessdate=2010-01-07 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090531155429/http://www.feegan.com/manx/bishops.php |archivedate=May 31, 2009 }}

In Birmingham, one of the most important parishes outside London, Thompson enhanced his reputation as a persuasive orator. ‘He was a vigorous speaker and preacher, with a carrying voice and plenty of appropriate gesture, accustomed to address meetings of men of all grades, while his spiritual influence was unmistakeable’.The Times obituary, 1 November 1924

Although regarded by the Archbishop of Canterbury as lacking in ‘refinement’, Prime Minister Asquith decided to recommend him for the see of Sodor and Man in November, 1911.Lambeth Palace Library, Davidson X (10) There, the great open-air services attended by visitors played to his strengths. However, tourism came to a temporary halt with the declaration of war in August, 1914. Thompson was a strong advocate of British participation in the Great War, even though he realised some of the horrors that lay ahead ‘Horrible beyond all exaggeration are the agonies of mind and body produced by any war, but no imagination can conceive a thousandth part of the horrors of this great and terrible conflict .... If we had preferred peace to honour, or safety to truth, or ease to chivalry, the moral characteristic of the British Empire would have been strained and tarnished for ever.’ Manx Church Magazine, September, 1914 Thompson's support for the War never wavered despite the enormous casualties and he opposed those seeking a negotiated peace. ‘But there can be no peace without victory. Not until the power of German militarism is defeated and broken for ever can the world hope for peace. This menace to the freedom and progress of the race must be crushed out of existence before the War can come to an end.’ Manx Church Magazine, February, 1916

Thompson died suddenly in Harrogate in October, 1924.