William Thomson MD (3 July 1802 – 12 May 1852) was a Scottish medical author. He was Professor of Medicine at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

Life

Thomson was born on 3 July 1802, the second son of Margaret Crawford Gordon, first wife of Dr John Thomson. They lived at Merchant Street, close to

Greyfriars Kirk Greyfriars Kirk ( gd, Eaglais nam Manach Liath) is a parish church of the Church of Scotland, located in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is surrounded by Greyfriars Kirkyard. Greyfriars traces its origin to the south-west parish of Edi ...

Edinburgh's Old Town The Old Town ( sco, Auld Toun) is the name popularly given to the oldest part of Scotland's capital city of Edinburgh. The area has preserved much of its medieval street plan and many Reformation-era buildings. Together with the 18th/19th-cent ...

. He was educated at the

High School A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

in Edinburgh. In 1818 he began studying medicine at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

. He studied at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

from 1821-22. He spent the summer of 1822 with

Sir Robert Carswell Robert Douglas Carswell, Baron Carswell, PC (born 28 June 1934) is a retired Lord of Appeal in Ordinary. Early life The son of Alan and Nance Carswell was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution and Pembroke College, Oxford, wh ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, visiting both

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and

Lyons Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of th ...

on a series of observations on human dissections, to aid Carswell in his work with Thomson's father. In 1825 he settled in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, living at 80 George Street in

Edinburgh's New Town The New Town is a central area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It was built in stages between 1767 and around 1850, and retains much of its original neo-classical and Georgian period architecture. Its best known street is Princes Street ...

. He began lecturing in medicine and physiology at the University of Edinburgh in 1826. During this period he also assisted his father during pathology lectures. From 1830, following a drop in his father's health he took on all roles himself. He received his doctorate (MD) in 1831. In 1840 he became official Senior Physician at the

Edinburgh Royal Infirmary The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, or RIE, often (but incorrectly) known as the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, or ERI, was established in 1729 and is the oldest voluntary hospital in Scotland. The new buildings of 1879 were claimed to be the largest v ...

. In 1841 he was appointed Professor of Medicine at the University of Glasgow. During his 11 years at the University he also became a Director of

Glasgow Royal Infirmary The Glasgow Royal Infirmary (GRI) is a large teaching hospital. With a capacity of around 1,000 beds, the hospital campus covers an area of around , and straddles the Townhead and Dennistoun districts on the north-eastern fringe of the city cen ...

and Gartnavel Mental Asylum. An outbreak of

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

at the asylum was addressed by Thomson however as a result of this process Thomson caught the disease. He went to

to consult his medical friends on his condition, but died of cholera a few days later, on 12 May 1852. He was buried in

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and on ...

in western

. The grave lies in the south-east section, just to the side of

David Octavius Hill David Octavius Hill (20 May 1802 – 17 May 1870) was a Scottish painter, photographer and arts activist. He formed Hill & Adamson studio with the engineer and photographer Robert Adamson between 1843 and 1847 to pioneer many aspects of pho ...

who appears to have been his wife's cousin.

Publications

*''On the Black Deposit on the Lungs of Miners'' *''Sloughing of Some Portions of the Intestinal Tube'' (1835) *''A Practical Treatise on the Diseases of the Liver and Billary Passage'' (1841)

Family

William was married to Eliza Hill (1804-1874), daughter of Ninian Hill WS. They had six children. Their son John Thomson (1828-1866) gained fame as a civil engineer laying Transatlantic telegraph cables. He was half-brother to

Allen Thomson Allen Thomson Royal Society of London, FRS FRSE FRCSE (2 April 1809 – 21 March 1884) was a Scottish physician, known as an anatomist and embryologist. Life The only son of John Thomson (physician), Dr John Thomson by his second wife, Marg ...

, son of his father's second wife, who was also an eminent physician. Allen married William's sister-in-law, Ninian Jane Hill. His nephew, through this half-brother, was

John Millar Thomson Prof John Millar Thomson PIC FRS FRSE LLD (7 March 1849 – 22 March 1933) was a British chemist who held various leading positions with British chemical societies and was the vice-principal of King's College London. He was President of the In ...

References

; {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, William 1802 births 1852 deaths 19th-century Scottish medical doctors Scottish physiologists Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Medical doctors from Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of Glasgow Burials at the Dean Cemetery Deaths from cholera Infectious disease deaths in Scotland Scottish medical writers