Edward Deas Thomson

{{Short description|Australian politician (1800–1879)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}} {{Use Australian English|date=September 2014}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = Sir | name = Edward Deas Thomson | native_name =  | native_name_lang =  | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=,|KCMG|CB}} | image = SirEdwardDeasThomson.jpg | image_size = 280 | image_upright = | alt = | caption = Sir Edward Deas Thomson, ''ca.'' 1865 | office = Colonial Secretary of New South Wales | term_start = {{start date|1837|01|02|df=y}} | term_end = {{end date|1856|06|05|df=y}} | monarch = {{unbulleted list|William IV|Queen Victoria}} | governor = {{unbulleted list|Sir Richard Bourke|Sir George Gipps|Sir Charles FitzRoy|Sir William Denison}} | constituency = | majority = | predecessor = Alexander Macleay | successor = Stuart Donaldson | prior_term = | office2 = Chancellor of the University of Sydney | term_start2 = 1865 | term_end2 = 1878 | predecessor2 = Francis Merewether | successor2 = William Montagu Manning | office3 = Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sydney | term_start3 = 1863 | term_end3 = 1865 | predecessor3 = Francis Merewether | successor3 = John Plunkett | office4 = Member of the Legislative Council of New South Wales | term_start4 = {{start date|1837|01|03|df=y}} | term_end4 = {{end date|1879|07|16|df=y}} | pronunciation = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1800|06|01|df=y}} | birth_place = Edinburgh, Scotland | death_date = {{Death date and age|1879|07|16|1800|06|01|df=y}} | death_place = Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | citizenship = | party = | other_party =  | height =  | partner =  | relations = | children = | parents =  | mother =  | father =  | relatives = | education = Harrow School | alma_mater = | occupation = Government administrator, politician, university administrator | profession = | known_for = | salary = | net_worth =  | cabinet = | committees = | portfolio = | awards = {{unbulleted list|Companion of the Order of the Bath;|Knight Commander of St Michael and St George}} | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Sir Edward Deas Thomson''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=,|KCMG|CB}} (1 June 1800 – 16 July 1879<ref name=Mennell>{{cite Australasia|Thomson, Hon. Sir Edward Deas}}</ref>) was a Scotsman who became an administrator and politician in Australia, and was chancellor of the University of Sydney.

==Background and early career== thumb|left|A younger Sir Edward Deas Thomson by William Nicholas 1847–1848.Thomson was born at Edinburgh, Scotland. His tutor was Joseph Lowe.<ref>{{cite book |author=Foster, Stephen Glynn |title=Colonial Improver: Edward Deas Thompson (1800–1879)|year=1978 |publisher=Melbourne University Press |isbn=0522841368|page=5}}</ref>

==In Australia== thumb|left|An older Sir Edward Deas Thomson.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)<ref name=adb>{{Australian Dictionary of Biography|first=M. E. |last=Osborne|title=Thomson, Sir Edward Deas (1800–1879)|id2=thomson-sir-edward-deas-2732|accessdate=1 April 2013}}</ref>

==Personal life== Thomson married Anne Marie Bourke,<ref name="adb"/> the second daughter of Governor Sir Richard Bourke,<ref name=Mennell/> 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,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article162659135 |title=Foundling Institution |newspaper=The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser |date=9 August 1873 |accessdate=28 November 2018 |page=168 |via=Trove}}</ref> now The Infants' Home Child and Family Services. One daughter, Elizabeth, was mother of Edward Grigg, 1st Baron Altrincham;<ref>Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition, vol. 1, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1999, p. 65,</ref> another, Susan Emmeline, married the politician-pastoralist William John Macleay,<ref name=Godden>{{cite book|last1=Godden|first1=Judith|title=Lucy Osburn, a lady displaced: Florence Nightingale's envoy to Australia|date=2006|publisher=Sydney University Press|location=Sydney|isbn=9781920898397|pages=285}}</ref> while another Eglantine Julia, married the politician William Campbell.<ref name="William Campbell NSW Parl">{{Cite NSW Parliament |id=725 |name=Mr William Robert Campbell (1838-1906) |former=Yes |access-date=16 April 2019}}</ref> His portrait is in the great hall of the University of Sydney.<ref>{{Dictionary of Australian Biography|First=Edward Deas|Last=Thomson|shortlink=0-dict-biogT-V.html#thomson2}}</ref> Thomson died on 16 July 1879 in Sydney.<ref name=Mennell/><ref name="Thomson NSW Parl">{{Cite NSW Parliament |id=280 |name=Sir Edward Deas Thomson, KCMG, CB (1804-1859) |former=Yes |access-date=1 July 2017}}</ref>

==See also== {{stack|{{portal|Biography|New South Wales|Politics}}}} *Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council *Thomson River *The Wool Road (New South Wales) *Vincentia, New South Wales

==References== {{Reflist}}

== External links ==

* [https://onesearch.slq.qld.gov.au/permalink/61SLQ_INST/tqqf2h/alma99183959420902061 Colonial Secretary's papers 1822-1877], State Library of Queensland- includes digitised letters written by Thomson to the Colonial Secretary of New South Wales {{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=Alexander Macleay}} {{s-ttl|title = Colonial Secretary of New South Wales |years =2 January 1837{{spaced ndash}}5 June 1856}} {{s-aft|after=Stuart Donaldson}} {{s-aca}} {{succession box | title=Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sydney | before=Francis Merewether | after=John Plunkett | years=1863–1865}} {{succession box | title=Chancellor of the University of Sydney | before=Francis Merewether | after=William Montagu Manning | years=1865–1878}} {{end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Edward Deas}} Category:1800 births Category:1879 deaths Category:People educated at Harrow School Category:Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Category:Australian Companions of the Order of the Bath Category:Australian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Category:Colonial secretaries of New South Wales Category:Scottish emigrants to colonial Australia Category:19th-century Australian politicians Category:19th-century Australian public servants Category:Chancellors of the University of Sydney Category:Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Category:British emigrants to the Colony of New South Wales Category:Colony of New South Wales politicians