Editing Francis Thompson (section)

==Early life and study==
Thompson was born in Winckley Street, [[Preston, Lancashire|Preston]], [[Lancashire]] and baptized four days later in [[Syro-Malabar Cathedral of St Alphonsa, Preston|St Ignatius Church]]. His father, Charles, was a [[Physician|doctor]] who had converted to [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholicism]], following his brother [[Edward Healy Thompson]], a friend of [[Henry Edward Manning|Cardinal Manning]]. Edward Healy, along with John Costall Thompson, Francis' uncles, were both authors. Francis had a brother who died in infancy, and three younger sisters.<ref name=":1">{{Cite DNB12 |wstitle= Thompson, Francis |volume= 3 |pages= 502–503 |last= Meynell |first= Everard |year=1912|short= 1}}</ref>

At the age of eleven, Thompson was sent to [[Ushaw College]], a [[Roman Catholic|Catholic]] [[seminary]] near [[Durham, England|Durham]]. A frail, delicate and extremely shy boy, he was described by his school fellows in 1870 as 'mooney' or abstracted but happy enough. He could be recognised from afar along an 'ambulacrum' or corridor by his habit of sidling sheepishly along the wall with the collar of his coat turned up. Most of his leisure time was spent in the college library where he was fond of history and poetry books. It was noticed that despite the distractions in the library of catapult fights and general mayhem, he had the ability to shut himself off and continue to be absorbed in his reading.<ref name=jtpoet>[https://books.google.com/books?id=abYuAAAAIAAJ&q=Francis+Thompson Thomson, John. ''Francis Thompson, Poet and Mystic'', Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent and Company, Limited, 1923]</ref>

As he advanced up the college he became more skilled at writing and his friends remembered that out of twenty examination essays he obtained first place on sixteen occasions. Once he was punished with a beating for being the last boy to be ready for PE drill. He had no interest in Mathematics and, in his final exam, he came last. The only sport in which he developed an interest was Handball and it is said he achieved a standard above the average.  He became a connoisseur of cricket though he rarely participated.<ref name=Chilton/> In preparation for Ushaw College's centenary celebrations due to take place in 1908, Thompson, by then a celebrated poet, was approached to write a Jubilee Ode to mark the occasion. The poet was delighted that the assignment had been offered to him and it is said that he looked forward to seeing his 'College home' once more. His death, however, in 1907 meant that the commission was never carried out.

Thompson studied [[medicine]] for nearly eight years at [[Victoria University of Manchester|Owens College]], now the [[University of Manchester]]. While excelling in essay writing, he took no interest in his medical studies; he had a passion for poetry and for watching cricket matches.<ref name=jtpoet/> He never practised as a doctor, and tried to enlist as a soldier but was rejected for his slightness of stature. Then in 1885 he fled, penniless, to [[London]], where he tried to make a living as a writer, in the meantime taking odd jobs – working for a bootmaker (John McMaster of Panton Street) and booksellers, and selling matches.<ref name=Chilton/> During this time, he became [[Addiction|addicted]] to [[opium]], which he had first taken as medicine for ill health, having experienced a nervous breakdown while still in Manchester. He lived on the streets of [[Charing Cross]] and slept by the [[River Thames]], with the homeless and other addicts. He was turned down by [[University of Oxford|Oxford University]], not because he was unqualified, but because of his [[addiction]].<ref name=":0">Thomson, John (1913). [https://archive.org/stream/francisthompsonp00thom#page/n9/mode/2up ''Francis Thompson the Preston-born Poet.''] London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent.</ref> Thompson contemplated [[suicide]] in his nadir of despair, but was saved from completing the action through a vision which he believed to be that of a youthful poet [[Thomas Chatterton]], who had committed suicide over a century earlier.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Poets'_Chantry/Francis_Thompson|title=The Poets' Chantry|last=Brégy|first=Katherine|chapter=Francis Thompson }}</ref> A prostitute, whose identity Thompson never revealed, befriended him and gave him lodgings. Thompson later described her in his poetry as his saviour.<ref name=":0" />