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David Thompson (New Hampshire settler)

Abt 1592 - Bef 1628

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 14, 2026
Entity authorityQ28434580 ↗
Source-derived summary

David Thompson or David Thomson (c. 1588 – disappeared 1628) was an early Scot settler of the New England area, considered the founder and first non-native settler of New Hampshire. He was granted a land patent for Thompson Island in Boston Harbor, which continues to bear his name. According to Burke's Landed Gentry (2010), his family—the Thomsons of Corstorphine—are direct descendants of a great-grandson of King Robert II of Scotland, namely, Sir Thomas Stewart, Master of Mar.

Early life and ancestry

David Thompson or Thomson was born in Corstorphine, a village in the Kingdom of Scotland. His father was the Reverend Richard Thomson, who had received an ecclesiastical appointment from James VI of Scotland (reigned 1567–1625). The identity of David's mother is unknown. His stepmother (Richard Thomson's second wife) was Agnes Foulis.

Richard Thomson was the son of Bernard Thomson and Agnes Balzert. His paternal grandparents were Alexander Thomson and Janet Gourlay, daughter of Baron William Gourlay, 9th of Kincraig.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “David Thompson (New Hampshire settler)” as abt 1592 - Bef 1628. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around David, Thompson and Hampshire.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1588, 1628, 2010, 1567—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1593-01-01. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with David, Thompson and Hampshire providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “David Thompson (New Hampshire settler)”, the useful work is to connect “abt 1592 - Bef 1628” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q28434580. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1588, 1628, 2010 and 1567.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

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Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “David Thompson (New Hampshire settler)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.