William Thompson was born in Ireland on 3 February 1732 and arrived in Carteret County, North Carolina in about 1769 to serve as a naval deputy for Beaufort. Thompson was a colonel in the North Carolina militia during the War of Regulation. Later Thompson became a staunch Patriot, serving as a delegate to the North Carolina Provincial Congress and as the colonel of the Carteret Regiment of the North Carolina Militia from 1775 to 1779. In 1778 and 1779 he served in the North Carolina State Senate. He died in Beaufort on 22 November 1802.