P. Gilchrist Thompson
Piers Gilchrist Thompson (10 May 1893 – 7 February 1969) was an English publisher and Liberal Party politician. Family and education Thompson was born in Battersea, the son of the Reverend Canon Henry Percy Thompson and his wife Lillian (née Thomas). He was educated at Winchester College and Brasenose College, Oxford where he obtained his MA degree. He was married to Hester Barnes and they had two sons and a daughter. Career On 26 August 1914, shortly after the British entry into the First World War, aged 21 years, Thompson was commissioned into the 4th Battalion The Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment). He ended his military service with the rank of captain. From the early 1920s, Thompson was looking for a career in publishing. He invested in the publishing house established by Jonathan Cape and became a junior director in the firm. After 1923, he was a Treasurer of Jonathan Cape. He also worked with Hamish Hamilton who founded his own publishing house. He later became a partner in the publishing company of Lovat Dickson and Thompson Ltd. Politics Torquay Thompson first stood for Parliament at the 1922 general election. Torquay Liberal Association had had trouble in finding a