This website tells the story of an extraordinary Sunderland family who created a shipbuilding empire, producing innovative ocean-going vessels for more than 150 years and helping to change the course of at least one world war.
A Sunderland Shipbuilding Dynasty
It is a tale of two Robert Thompsons, father and son, who founded separate shipyards on the River Wear in England's County Durham and helped change the course of ship design in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries on a global scale.
Their story includes the creation of one of the most successful cargo ship designs ever built, vessels that would play their part in thwarting Adolf Hitler's plans to starve Britain into submission during the Second World War, while another member of the Thompson family spent the war years by the side of Winston Churchill as Britain refused to bow to fascism.
It is also a family story shaped by a dramatic shipbuilding rivalry which endured across five generations, while producing powerful and influential men who moved beyond shipbuilding to play their own parts in creating the modern Britain we know today.
The Robert Thompsons
The family's story begins with Robert Thompson, a keelman born in Sunderland in 1773. His eldest son, also named Robert Thompson, built his first ship on the River Wear in 1819 before opening his own shipyard at North Sands in 1837.
His eldest son, another Robert Thompson, later established his own shipyard at Southwick on the Wear in 1854 after falling out with his father. From this succession of Robert Thompsons emerged a remarkable family rivalry which would endure for around a century and span five generations.
The George H Graham Genealogical Archive
At the heart of this website is an extraordinary digital genealogical archive containing a wealth of facts and background information about many thousands of people who belong to the Thompson shipbuilding family or connect to it in some way.
The archive represents the lifetime's work of George H Graham, who was born in the United States and lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma. George is the Great-Great-Great Grandson of Robert Thompson, the Sunderland keelman born in 1773.
Across the years George has been assisted by others, whom he credits throughout his work, but the existence of this remarkable resource is without doubt due to him. In recognition of that achievement, it is named the George H Graham Genealogical Archive.
Explore the Genealogical ArchivePreserving the Story
We hope you will engage with this website and the remarkable story it tells. We welcome suggestions, corrections and previously unknown or untold stories relating to the Thompson shipbuilding family.
In time, the website will continue to grow and develop. For now, it provides an extensive source of information for anyone interested in the family which, at one stage, operated the third largest shipyard on earth.
The Thompson Shipbuilders website is owned and curated by Charles V Thompson, Great-Grandson of Robert Thompson Jnr of Southwick and Lady Elizabeth fame.
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