Sir John Sutherland Thomson (8 January 1920 – 13 March 2008), known throughout his life as Ian Thomson and with his knighthood as Sir Ian Thomson, was a British colonial administrator who served in Fiji for 40 years and was also Administrator of the British Virgin Islands.
Biography
Thomson was born in
Glasgow; soon after he was born his family realised that Glasgow was full of John Thomsons and started calling him Ian. He was educated at the
High School of Glasgow and the
University of Glasgow. In 1939 he joined the
Black Watch but was able to finish his studies at Glagow University, graduating with a degree in economics in 1940. He had already applied to join the
Colonial Service, did so in 1941 and was sent to
Fiji
Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
, then a British colony, as
aide-de-camp to the Governor,
Sir Harry Luke. He was commissioned in the Fiji Military Forces and saw action in the
Solomon Islands campaign. He was appointed a military "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the South West Pacific" in 1945. After the war he served the Administration of Fiji, becoming a
District Officer and eventually District Commissioner 1963–66. In 1966 he was appointed to the
Executive Council Executive Council may refer to:
Government
* Executive Council (Commonwealth countries), a constitutional organ that exercises executive power and advises the governor
* Executive Council of Bern, the government of the Swiss canton of Bern
* Ex ...
while serving as Acting Chief Secretary. In 1967 he reluctantly left Fiji to become Governor of the
British Virgin Islands (BVI). He was appointed in the
1968 Birthday Honours
The 1968 Queen's Birthday Honours were appointments to orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms to reward and highlight citizens' good works, on the occasion of the official birthday of Queen Elizabeth II. They were announced in supplemen ...
. In 1971 he returned to Fiji after being invited by the Prime Minister of the newly independent
Dominion of Fiji
The Dominion of Fiji was the official name of Fiji between October 1970 and 6 October 1987. When British rule ended in 1970, the Colony of Fiji was given independence as a Dominion, in which the British monarch, Elizabeth II, remained head ...
,
Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, to chair the board of the
Fiji Sugar Corporation
Fiji Sugar Corporation (FSC) is the government-owned sugar milling company in Fiji having monopoly on production of raw sugar in Fiji. It is also the largest public enterprise in the country employing nearly 3,000 people, while another 200,000 or ...
. He was also chairman of Fiji's airline,
Air Pacific. He was knighted KBE in the
1985 New Year Honours
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...
on the advice of the Fijian government.
Family
In 1945 Thomson married Nancy Kearsley, a fourth-generation Fiji islander from a European family. She became ill in 1986 and they retired to Scotland where she died in 1988. They had one daughter and seven sons, one of whom is
Peter Thomson, a Fijian diplomat.
Publications
''Fiji in the Forties and Fifties'' Thomson Pacific, 1994
Sources
THOMSON, Sir John Sutherland, (Sir Ian) ''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, 1920–2016 (online edition, Oxford University Press, 2014)
*
*
* (reproducing an obituary from the ''Fiji Times'')
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Ian
1920 births
2008 deaths
Colony of Fiji people
British expatriates in Fiji
People educated at the High School of Glasgow
Alumni of the University of Glasgow
British colonial governors and administrators in Oceania
Members of the Executive Council of Fiji
Governors of the British Virgin Islands
Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire