| Battle: | Battle of Dunbar in Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland |
| Ship/Arrival: | Unity, Dec 1650 |
| Prisoner and List: | |
| Name Variations: | |
| Residences: | |
| Other SPOW Associations: |
Published: 04 Dec 2014, Updated: 4 Apr 2019
Page contributors: Andrew Millard, Teresa Rust
William Thompson, #105 on George S. Stewart’s Captured at Dunbar list1
Surname variations: Thompson (common in England), Thomson (common in Scotland)
IMPORTANT UPDATE! (Jul 2018)
According to, Christopher Gerrard, Pam Graves, Andrew Millard, Richard Annis, and Anwen Caffell, Lost Lives, New Voices: Unlocking the Stories of the Scottish Soldiers at the Battle of Dunbar 1650, (England: Oxbow Books, 2018),2 on page 252, William is categorized as:
Probable [that he is a Dunbar prisoner transported on the Unity]
Thompson/Thomson/Tompson/Tomson, William. Residences: Dover NH, Kittery ME. Appears: 1656. D.1676. Granted land at the same time as Scots who worked at the Great Works. However, a Thompson family was already living in the area, so he may not be a Scot. [Exiles; Banks; DR; SPOWS; Ch.7 & 8]345167
For explanations of the category, abbreviations and references see List of Dunbar prisoners from Lost Lives, New Voices.
First Generation in the New World
1. WILLIAM¹ THOMPSON, was born, presumably in Scotland about 1635 and died at Kittery, York, Maine in 1676. He married at Dover, Strafford, New Hampshire, in 1658, UNKNOWN WHITE, daughter of JOHN WHITE.
Biographical Notes:
In Charles Edward Banks Scotch Prisoners Deported to New England by Cromwell, 1651-1652, William is listed as being from the Battle of Dunbar and working at the Great Works Saw Mill managed by Richard Leader, who fled to Barbados in 1656 after getting into a bit of trouble with ruling politics between Maine and Massachusetts. He left the SPOWs destitute and it is unclear if he set them free at that time. However, grants of land for these men began appearing in court records at that time.
A few years after 1650 – William Thompson is in the town of South Berwick…SEE: Clayton, W. Woodford. The History of York County, Maine (Philadelphia: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck, 1880) page 315:
William Thompson was a farmer by trade at the time of the birth of his son John. There does seem to be a lot of confusing information on William Thompson on the Internet. More documentation is needed!
Children of William and Unknown (White) Thompson:
2. i. JOHN² THOMPSON, born at Dover, New Hampshire about 1657*.
2. ii. WILLIAM² THOMPSON, born at Dover about 1661
2. iii. ROBERT² THOMPSON, born at Kittery about 1664
2. iv. JAMES² THOMPSON, born at Kittery about 1666
2. v. ALEXANDER² THOMPSON, born at Kittery about 1671
2. vi. JUDITH² THOMPSON, born at Kittery about 1675
Second Generation
2. i. JOHN² THOMPSON (William¹), born at Dover, New Hampshire about 1657. He married, SARAH WOODMAN.
Biographical Notes:
John Thompson was a carpenter by trade at the birth of his son, John.
Children of John and Sarah (Woodman) Thompson:
3. i. JOHN³ THOMPSON, (John², William¹), born at Oyster River, Durham, New Hampshire before 1680.
2. ii. WILLIAM² THOMPSON (William¹)
2. iii. ROBERT² THOMPSON (William¹)
2. iv. JAMES² THOMPSON (William¹)
2. v. ALEXANDER² THOMPSON (William¹) born at Kittery, York, Maine about 1671.
Children of Alexander and Unknown (_____) Thompson:
3. SAMUEL³ THOMPSON
2. vi. JUDITH² THOMPSON (William¹)
Black, George Fraser, 1866-1948. The Surnames of Scotland, Their Origin Meaning and History, (New York : New York Public Library & Readex Books, 1962), First published in 1946. Page 769.:
SPOW DNA Study:
Group 1-B, Haplogroup R-Z288
SOURCES and NOTES:
26 Nov 2016, Sandra Burke wrote, I am a descendant of William Thompson’ son James.
James Thompson 1666
James Thompson 1707-1791
Elizabeth Thompson Weed 1733-1766
Lydia Weed Welch 1758-1805
Ezekiel Welch 1794-1863
Julia Welch Godfrey 1819-1877
Frederick Godfrey 1859-1939
Cecil Godfrey 1903-1987
Annette Godfrey Dugans 1930-2010″
~ Sandra
“He married, “about 1678″, Sarah Woodman. Both were of Oyster River at the time, which was then a part of Dover and is now Durham, NH.” ~ Wayne, 7th great-grandson of William Thompson
“Just a small correction to William Thompson’s page: His wife was certainly a daughter of John White, but her given name is unknown. It could not have been Mary, because John White’s daughter Mary was unmarried in 1665 when she bore an illegitimate child. Source: Noyes, et al., /Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire/.” ~ Wayne Mitchell
Jackie Thompson wrote and submitted the following:
William Thompson is #105 on the George S. Stewart list for “The Dunbar Prisoners.”
In Charles Edward Banks Scotch Prisoners Deported to New England by Cromwell, 1651-1652, William is listed as being from the Battle of Dunbar and working at the Great Works Saw Mill managed by Richard Leader, who fled to Barbados in 1656 after getting into a bit of trouble with ruling politics between Maine and Massachusetts. He left the SPOWs destitute and it is unclear if he set them free at that time. However, grants of land for these men began appearing in court records at that time.
1656 – William received a grant of land in Dover, NH. This was laid out, March 17, 1658/1659 “beyond Cocheco Logg Swamp.” On November 8, 1715 William’s son John Thompson, Sr. of Dover, conveyed to John Tuttle fifty acres of land which “were granted to my father, William Thompson, by the town of Dover.” It lay beyond Cocheco Log Swamp, “bounded on the south by Bellamy Bank River.” There is no evidence that William Thompson ever lived on this grant.
October 15, 1656 – Kittery Records – 23 acres were assigned to “William Thompson and his heirs forever at a town meeting in Kittery, Maine by John White” (William’s future father in law). It was located a short way below Sturgeon Creek.
1658 – William married a daughter of John White – Mary Elizabeth White (born 1639 in Kittery, Maine).
1659 – William Thompson was presented at York Court “for rebellion against his father and mother-in-law” He bound himself to the court in a bond of 20 Pounds “that hee will be of good behavior towards all men, especially towards his father and mother.” (State copy of Court Records, Vol. I page 331.)
1676 – William died at Kittery, York, Maine and his estate was appraised, June 22 of that year, at 52 Pounds and 18 Shillings. He left twenty-three acres of land, a house and orchard at Kittery, Maine, and fifty acres in Dover, NH, which he gave to his sons. His wife had died before 1676. He left children, whose ages were given in 1677 as follows:
i. JOHN THOMPSON, aged 18 (Born 1658)
ii. WILLIAM THOMPSON, aged 16 (Born 1661)
iii. ROBERT THOMPSON, aged 13 (Born 1664)
iv. JAMES THOMPSON, aged 11 (Born 1666)
v. ALEXANDER THOMPSON, aged 6 (Born 1671)
vi. JUDITH THOMPSON, aged 2 (Born 1675)
I am descended from Alexander Thompson. – Jackie
For additional help, please go to the Facebook Group.
(Our small website team is unable to help with further research.)
- Stewart, George Sawin. The Bartlett Collection. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts. /george-sawin-stewart-documents/ [↩] [↩]
- Gerrard, Christopher M.., et al. Lost Lives, New Voices: Unlocking the Stories of the Scottish Soldiers at the Battle of Dunbar 1650. Oxbow Books, 2018, p. 252. [↩]
- Stackpole, Everett Schermerhorn. Scotch Exiles in New England. 1922. Coll. 733 & 831, Collections of the Maine Historical Society, Portland ME. [↩]
- Banks, C.E. 1927. ‘Scotch Prisoners deported to New England by Cromwell 1651-2’. Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society 61, 4-30. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25080212 [↩]
- Rapaport, Diane. Working List of Early New England Scots. 2015. [↩]
- “Dunbar Prisoners of War Profiles.” The Scottish Prisoners of War Society, Teresa Rust, 18 Feb. 2019, scottishprisonersofwar.com/battle_of_dunbar_pows_america/. [↩]
- Gerrard, Christopher M.., et al. Lost Lives, New Voices: Unlocking the Stories of the Scottish Soldiers at the Battle of Dunbar 1650. Oxbow Books, 2018. Ch. 7, 8. [↩]