Edward Deas Thomson
Sir Edward Deas Thomson | |
|---|---|
 Sir Edward Deas Thomson, ca. 1865 | |
| Colonial Secretary of New South Wales | |
| In office 2 January 1837 – 5 June 1856 | |
| Monarchs | |
| Governor | |
| Preceded by | Alexander Macleay |
| Succeeded by | Stuart Donaldson |
| Chancellor of the University of Sydney | |
| In office 1865–1878 | |
| Preceded by | Francis Merewether |
| Succeeded by | William Montagu Manning |
| Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sydney | |
| In office 1863–1865 | |
| Preceded by | Francis Merewether |
| Succeeded by | John Plunkett |
| Member of the Legislative Council of New South Wales | |
| In office 3 January 1837 – 16 July 1879 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1 June 1800 Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Died | 16 July 1879 (aged 79) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Education | Harrow School |
| Occupation | Government administrator, politician, university administrator |
Awards | |
Sir Edward Deas Thomson KCMG, CB (1 June 1800 – 16 July 1879[1]) was a Scotsman who became an administrator and politician in Australia, and was chancellor of the University of Sydney in New South Wales (NSW).
Background and early career
[edit]
Thomson was born at Edinburgh, Scotland. His tutor was Joseph Lowe.
His father was John Deas Thomson, born in Edinburgh and his mother was Rebecca Freer, the daughter of a South Carolina planter. John Deas Thomson was a Commissioner and Accountant-General of the Navy. He was knighted 24 August 1832. He was also a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London and a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1836, John Deas Thomson is named as the 2nd claimant for £2925 4s 2d in compensation for the release of 172 enslaved people from the Nichola Town Estate in St Kitts following the abolition of slavery in 1833.[2]
In Australia
[edit]
Thomson also served as President of the Australian Club in Sydney. During his visit to England he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) and in 1874 he was created a Knight Commander of St Michael and St George (KCMG)[3]
Personal life
[edit]Thomson married Anne Marie Bourke,[3] the second daughter of Governor Sir Richard Bourke,[1] who survived him with two sons and five daughters. His wife, a prominent activist, was one of the founding committee members for women and infant refuge Sydney Founding Institute,[4] now The Infants' Home Child and Family Services. One daughter, Elizabeth, was mother of Edward Grigg, 1st Baron Altrincham;[5] another, Susan Emmeline, married the politician-pastoralist William John Macleay,[6] while another Eglantine Julia, married the politician William Campbell.[7] His son, George Gipps Deas Thomson, was in 1870 a co-founder of the Wallaroo Football Club in Sydney, the NSW colony's first rugby union club.[8]
A portrait of Thomson is in the great hall of the University of Sydney.[9] Thomson died on 16 July 1879 in Sydney.[1][10]
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 Mennell, Philip (1892). . The Dictionary of Australasian Biography. London: Hutchinson & Co – via Wikisource.
- ↑ 'Sir John Deas Thomson', Legacies of British Slavery database [accessed 21st July 2026].
- 1 2 Osborne, M. E. "Thomson, Sir Edward Deas (1800–1879)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
- ↑ "Foundling Institution". The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser. 9 August 1873. p. 168. Retrieved 28 November 2018 – via Trove.
- ↑ Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition, vol. 1, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1999, p. 65,
- ↑ Godden, Judith (2006). Lucy Osburn, a lady displaced: Florence Nightingale's envoy to Australia. Sydney: Sydney University Press. p. 285. ISBN 9781920898397.
- ↑ "Mr William Robert Campbell (1838-1906)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
- ↑ Fagan, Sean (15 April 2026). "FOUNDERS". WALLAROOFC1870.com. Retrieved 28 August 2026.
- ↑ Serle, Percival (1949). "Thomson, Edward Deas". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus & Robertson.
- ↑ "Sir Edward Deas Thomson, KCMG, CB (1804-1859)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
External links
[edit]- Colonial Secretary's papers 1822-1877, State Library of Queensland- includes digitised letters written by Thomson to the Colonial Secretary of New South Wales
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
- 1800 births
- 1879 deaths
- People educated at Harrow School
- Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council
- Australian Companions of the Order of the Bath
- Australian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
- Colonial secretaries of New South Wales
- Scottish emigrants to colonial Australia
- 19th-century Australian politicians
- 19th-century Australian public servants
- Chancellors of the University of Sydney
- Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees
- British emigrants to the Colony of New South Wales
- Colony of New South Wales politicians
