The Hon. Alexander MacDonald Thomson (27 September 1863 – 28 July 1924) was a Scottish civil engineer who served as Colonial Treasurer of Hong Kong from 1899 to 1918. Thomson was born in

Turriff Turriff () is a town and civil parish in Aberdeenshire in Scotland. It lies on the River Deveron, about above sea level, and has a population of 5,708. In everyday speech it is often referred to by its Scots name ''Turra'', which is derived f ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

, Scotland, in 1863 to John Thomson and his wife, Isabella Macdonald. Thomson lived first in India, where he joined the Freemasons. He first appeared in colonial service in 1887 in a lowly capacity. By July 1898, he was Acting Colonial Treasurer and Collector of Stamp Revenue and he stood in for a few months as Acting Colonial Secretary for Sir

Henry May Henry May may refer to: *Henry May (American politician) (1816–1866), U.S. Representative from Maryland * Henry May (New Zealand politician) (1912–1995), New Zealand politician * Henry May (VC) (1885–1941), Scottish recipient of the Victoria C ...

in 1909, then twice more in 1910 and 1912. When Thomson retired in 1918, on a pension of HK$4,200, he was Colonial Treasurer. Thomson died at Mt Zion Hospital in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

in 1924 of cancer of the esophagus and pancreas. He had been living in nearby

San Mateo, California San Mateo ( ; ) is a city in San Mateo County, California, on the San Francisco Peninsula. About 20 miles (32 km) south of San Francisco, the city borders Burlingame to the north, Hillsborough to the west, San Francisco Bay and Foster C ...

. Thomson Road, Hong Kong is named after him."Street Names and Their Origins" Hong Kong volume 1 by Frena Bloomfield

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Alexander MacDonald 1863 births 1924 deaths People from Turriff Scottish civil engineers Financial Secretaries of Hong Kong Scottish expatriates in the United States Deaths from cancer in California