William Harding Thompson was born in Blackpool, Lancashire, England on 15 November 1887. He was articled to Tom Gallon Lamb (1862-?) from 1905 to 1908. After completing his articles he worked as an assistant to Joseph Pttison in Windermere from from 1908 to 1910; and to Walter Frederick Cave (1863-1939) in 1912. He then attended Liverpool University School of Architecture from 1910 to 1912 and the British School in Rome in 1913. He also attended London University School of Town Planning in 1914 and 1919-21.
Thompson qualified as an architect in 1913, however his career was disrupted by World War One and he didn't commence practice until 1920
From 1920 to 1927 he was architect to Enfield Village Centre in Enfield, Hampshire. He served as a technical consultant to the Regional Planning Committees in Hertfordshire, Oxfordshire and Dorset, and was the author of a number of county and regional surveys and reports. He lectured on "Theory of Town Planning" at the Architectural Association School in London.
Thompson was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1914 , and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1929. Among awards he received were the Holt Travelling Scholarship in Architecture in 1912; the London University Lever Prize (Town Planning) in 1921; and the Society of Architects American Scholarship in 1924.
His address was given as 5, Verulam Buildings, Gray's Inn, London in 1923 and 1939. He died at 8 Blackhall Road, Oxford on 3 November 1946.
Enham Village Centre, Hampshire — a settlement for treatment and training of disabled ex-service men. Small country houses and farms In Lancashire, Kent and Hampshire, etc. [Source: Who's Who in Architecture 1926]
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 2: L-Z. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 171, 8 November 1946 p. 474
Who's Who in Architecture. Edited by Frederick Chatterton. London: The Architectural Press, 1926