James Thomson (c.1797 – 23 March 1859) was a pastoralist and politician in colonial

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, a member of the

Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council (VLC) is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Co ...

Early life

Thomson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, the son of John Thomson, a watchmaker, and Anne, ''née'' Young.

Colonial Australia

Thomson arrived in

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

in January 1823 and the

Port Phillip District The Port Phillip District was an administrative division of the Colony of New South Wales from 9 September 1836 until 1 July 1851, when it was separated from New South Wales and became the Colony of Victoria. In September 1836, NSW Colonial Sec ...

around 1840. On 14 June 1853 Thomson was elected to the unicameral Victorian Legislative Council for Ripon, Hampden, Grenville and Polwarth. Thomson held this position until resigning in February 1854. Thomson died near

Port Fairy, Victoria Port Fairy (historically known as Belfast) is a coastal town in south-western Victoria, Australia. It lies on the Princes Highway in the Shire of Moyne, west of Warrnambool and west of Melbourne, at the point where the Moyne River enters the S ...

on 23 March 1859, he had married Elizabeth Glen Boynton in 1856.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, James 1797 births 1859 deaths Members of the Victorian Legislative Council Politicians from Edinburgh Australian pastoralists 19th-century Australian politicians Scottish emigrants to Australia 19th-century Australian businesspeople