William Thompson was originally a dobby handloom weaver for Bairstows and was instrumental in developing the first dobby for a mechanised power loom.

The dobby sat on top of the loom and controlled the shafts carrying the warp threads enabling a fancy worsted cloth to be woven. Hatterleys of Keighley manufactured the first powered dobby loom in the 1860s and William Thompson manufactured the dobby lags and pegs.

When William Thompson died in 1899 his nephews, Walter and John Robert Thompson, took over. They moved the business from Rosemount to the old vineries at Holme Lane in the 1920s.

William Thompson is referred to in this 1917 advert.