Edith Thompson

A historian, and the author of a popular History of England, Thompson acted as consultant to the OED on historical terms. She was a major reader for the Dictionary who, along with her sister, Elizabeth Perronet Thompson, was credited in 1888 with 15,000 quotations. She also subedited C and proofread from D onwards. The quotation submitted by Edith Thompson was never used, although she had supplied it for use in the entry for paddock. The text reads: ‘1856 [H. H. Dixon] Post & Paddock ii. 43 If you go into a paddock, and see a lengthy, plain-headed foal with lop ears gazing at you.’ Thompson had annotated the slip: ‘(This is a rather good quot. as it shows that you may expect to see foals in paddocks. E.T.)’.