James Thompson, or Thomson, (26 August 1824 - 7 June 1899) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

for one term between 1856 and 1857.

Early life

Thompson was born in Port Dalrymple, Tasmania to Lieutenant Thomas Thompson and Eliza Reibey, a daughter of

Mary Reibey Mary Reibey née ''Haydock'' (12 May 177730 May 1855) was an English-born merchant, shipowner and trader who was transported to Australia as a convict. After gaining her freedom, she was viewed by her contemporaries as a community role model an ...

. In 1847 Thompson moved to Burrier, near what is now

Nowra Nowra is a city in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south-southwest of the state capital of Sydney (about as the crow flies). As of the 2021 census, Nowra has an estimated population of 22,584. Situated in th ...

, a property owned by his grandmother Mary. In 1848 Thompson was appointed a magistrate.

Colonial Parliament

At the 1856 New South Wales colonial election, the first under

responsible government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive bran ...

, after the

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multic ...

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in th ...

was abolished and replaced with an elected Legislative Assembly and an appointed Legislative Council, Thompson was elected to represent the seat of St Vincent. He did not hold a ministerial or parliamentary position and did not contest the next election in 1858. - refers to surname as both Thompson & Thomson

Death

Thompson died at Burrier on .

References

Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly People from George Town, Tasmania {{Australia-politician-stub