Franklin Thomasson

Who is Franklin Thomasson?

Franklin Thomasson was an English 19th century MP.

Descended from a well known family of cotton spinners from Bolton, Lancashire, Franklin Thomasson was born on 16 August 1873 at Alderley Edge, Cheshire, the 3rd child of John Pennington Thomasson, who was a benefactor and MP for Bolton. He married Elizabeth, a daughter of the late Caleb Coffin of New York on 11 July 1895. They had 3 children, John, Marjorie and Barbara.

Franklin contested the Westhoughton Parliamentary division in 1900, and Stretford in 1901, but on both occasions he was unsuccessful. He became Liberal MP for Leicester at a by-election in 1906, however, sharing the representation of the double-member constituency with Ramsay MacDonald. He retired at the January 1910 election.

In 1906, Thomasson ventured on a bold but disastrous experiment in newspaper production by founding the Tribune.

He played a large part in local political life before he left Bolton for London.

During World War I he commanded the 2-5th Battalion Loyal North Lancashire Regiment.

His wife Elizabeth died in 1927 and he then married Gertrude Prescott. They had three children, Margaret, Christopher and Jenny.