and in 1823 he obtained the two highest prizes in the university of Glasgow. Having received a license as a preacher, he officiated in many parts of Scotland, as well as in Newcastle and Birmingham, besides writing for ‘The Christian Instructor.’ In Glasgow he delivered a series of lectures to ladies on the ‘Philosophy of History.’
In 1827 he was appointed assistant to Laurence Adamson, minister of Cupar-Fife; but, owing to a return of his throat affection, he had to resign. He was then ordained to the charge of the Scottish church in Maitland, New South Wales, for which he sailed on 11 May 1831 with a brother and sister. On arriving at Maitland, he found there was neither church, manse, nor congregation, so he initiated a charge at Bathurst on 13 July 1832. About this time he married. Shortly after the birth of his second child he resigned his charge and returned to England, where he arrived in 1835, to devote himself to literature. Charles Knight (1791–1873) [q. v.] engaged him to edit and remodel Robert Henry's ‘History of Great Britain.’ This was afterwards abandoned in favour of a new work, ‘The Pictorial History of England,’ issued in 1838, to which Thomson was one of the principal contributors. He also wrote extensively for the periodical press, and contributed biographical and critical notices for ‘The Book of the Poets: Chaucer to Beattie’ (London, 1842).
In 1840 Thomson was commissioned by the Wodrow Society to edit Calderwood's ‘Historie of the Kirk of Scotland.’ As he had to make a copy of the original manuscript in the British Museum, the task occupied him nearly five years. In July 1844 he left London for Edinburgh, where he had been appointed by the free church editor of a series of works it was about to publish. After the appearance of several volumes, comprising the ‘Select Works’ of Knox, Rutherford, Traill, Henderson, Guthrie, Veitch, Hog, and Fleming, the scheme collapsed, Thomson again turning his attention to the periodical and newspaper press. In 1851 he became connected with Messrs. Blackie & Son, the publishers, for whom he afterwards turned out an immense amount of work, notably (along with Charles Macfarlane [q. v.]) ‘The Comprehensive History of England’ (4 vols. 1858–61). In 1851 he had written a supplemental volume of R. Chambers's ‘Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen,’ and immediately before his death he prepared a new edition in 3 vols., revised throughout and continued with a supplement, which was published between 1869 and 1871. It is by this work he is best known as a writer. His own biography is contained in the supplement. He died at Trinity, near Edinburgh, on 1 Feb. 1869.
Thomson was the author of small works written in his college days, entitled ‘Richard Gordon,’ ‘The Christian Martyr,’ ‘A Visit to Dalgarnock,’ and ‘The City of the Sun.’ He also published:
- ‘British Naval Biography: Howard to Codrington,’ London, 1839, 12mo; 2nd edit. 1854.
- ‘British Military Biography: Alfred to Wellington,’ London, 1840, 12mo; 2nd edit. 1854.
- ‘History of Scotland for Schools,’ Edinburgh, 1849, 12mo.
Thomson edited Robert Fleming's ‘Discourse on the Rise and Fall of the Papacy,’ Edinburgh, 1846, 8vo; Milton's ‘Poetical Works,’ London, 1853; and the works of James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, 2 vols., Edinburgh, 1865, 8vo.
[Chambers's Dict. of Eminent Scotsmen, 1871; Allibone's Dict.]
THOMSON, WILLIAM (1746–1817), miscellaneous writer, born in the parish of Forteviot, Perthshire, in 1746, was son of Matthew Thomson, builder, carpenter, and farmer, by his wife, the daughter of Miller, the schoolmaster of Avintully, near Dunkeld. Educated at the parish school, Perth grammar school, and St. Andrews University, he became librarian at Dupplin Castle, Perthshire, to Thomas Hay, eighth earl of Kinnoull [q. v.], who encouraged him to study for the church, and promised him a parish in his patronage. Completing his theological studies at St. Andrews and Edinburgh, Thomson was ordained on 20 March 1776 assistant to James Porteous, the minister of Monivaird, Perthshire, but soon displayed tastes and affinities discordant with his office. Constrained by the urgent complaints of the parishioners, he resigned his post on 1 Oct. 1778 and settled in London as a man of letters.
At first unsuccessful, Thomson depended mainly for several years on an annual income of 50l. granted by the Earl of Kinnoull. At length he won notice and regard by his successful continuation of Watson's ‘History of Philip III of Spain,’ 1783, for which he wrote the fifth and sixth books. In the same year, on 31 Oct., he received the honorary degree of LL.D. from Glasgow University, and he presently had his hands full of work. For the next five-and-thirty years he wrote on almost every subject, producing pamphlets, memoirs, elaborate biographies, voyages, travels, commentaries on Scripture, and treatises on military tactics.
