Thompson was well known as an agriculturalist who helped found the Yorkshire Agricultural Society in 1837, becoming its president in 1862, and was one of the founders of the Royal Agricultural Society in 1838. He served as High Sheriff of Yorkshire for 1856–57 and was also M.P. for Whitby from 1859, when he was elected in a by-election to 1865. In March 1874, shortly before his death, he was created the First Baronet Meysey-Thompson, of Kirby Hall, in the West Riding of the County of York. "Meysey" was Harry Thompson's grandmother's surname.
