Sir Edward Deas THOMSON (1800 - 1879)**
- Date of Birth: 01/06/1800
- Place of Birth: Edinburgh, Scotland
- Date of Death: 16/07/1879
- Place of Death: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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Parliamentary Service
| Position | Start | End | Period | Notes |
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| Member of the NSW Legislative Council | 3 Jan 1837 | 5 Jan 1843 | 6yr(s) 3day(s)
| An Appointed Member of the first Legislative Council 1824 - 1843 |
| Member of the NSW Legislative Council | 17 Jul 1843 | 31 Jan 1854 | 10yr(s) 6mth(s) 15day(s)
| A Non-Elective Member of the first Legislative Council 1843 – 1856 |
| Member of the NSW Legislative Council | 22 May 1856 | 10 May 1861 | 4yr(s) 11mth(s) 19day(s)
| First (Quinquennial) Appointment under the Constitution Act. Date of Writ of Summons 13 May 1856 |
| Member of the NSW Legislative Council | 3 Sep 1861 | 16 Jul 1879 | 17yr(s) 10mth(s) 14day(s)
| Life Appointment under the Constitution Act. Date of Writ of Summons 24 June 1861 |
| Member of the Executive Council | 2 Jan 1837 | 28 Apr 1856 | 19yr(s) 3mth(s) 27day(s)
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| Colonial Secretary | 2 Jan 1837 | 5 Jun 1856 | 19yr(s) 5mth(s) 4day(s)
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| Representative of the Government in the Legislative Council | 26 May 1857 | 7 Sep 1857 | 3mth(s) 13day(s)
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| Impounding Laws Committee No. 10 | 15 Aug 1856 | 18 Mar 1857 | 7mths 4days
1st (1856 - 1857) | |
| Petition of Mr David Cross Committee No.24 | 9 Dec 1856 | 18 Mar 1857 | 3mths 10days
1st (1856 - 1857) | |
| Australian Mutual Provident Society’s Bill Committee No.26 | 12 Dec 1856 | 18 Mar 1857 | 3mths 7days
1st (1856 - 1857) | |
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Qualifications, occupations and interests
Public servant; Colonial Secretary. Educated at Edinburgh High School and Harrow, and 2 years at college at Caen, Normandy; acquired fluent French. Clerk with Inglis, Forbes & Co., London., and assisted father at Navy Office; attended lectures on political economy by J.R McCulloch. Travelled to United States of America from 1826 until 1827. Arrived in New South Wales in 1829 as a clerk of Executive and Legislative Councils and member of Convict Assignment Board. Colonial Secretary from 1837 until 1856, and ex-officio member of Executive and Legislative Councils; visited England from 1854 until 1856 to oversee passage of Constitution Bill and recuperate; retired on pension in 1856. Had a 2,560 acre land grant in the Shoalhaven district. Senator of the University of Sydney from 1850 until 1879, elected as vice chancellor in 1863, chancellor from 1865 until 1878. Elected as a Fellow of Linnean Society., London in 1828. At various times was President of the Sydney Infirmary, Benevolent Society, Society for Destitute Children, Australian Club, Civil Service Club, Australian Jockey Club. Lived at Darlinghurst. Practising Anglican. Commissioner of International Exhibition, Paris in 1867. Important figure in New South Wales public life from 1843 until 1854; influential in debates on Constitution Hill in 1853; a moderate conservative in Legislative Council in conflicts between 1858 and 1862, in which period he sat at head of Opposition benches. Father in Law of W.J Macleay. Nominated member of Legislative Council from 1837 until 1856.
Honours Received
Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in 1856, Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in 1874.
Personal
Youngest son of Sir John Deas Thomson, of Edinburgh and sometime accountant-general of the British Navy, and his wife Rebecca Freer, daughter of John Freer of South Carolina in the United States of America. Married Anne Maria Bourke on 18 September 1833 at Sydney and had issue, 5 daughters and 2 sons. Church of England.
Additional Information
Personal papers in the Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales: 1. Edward Deas Thomson - papers, 1773 - 1883 (A1531) 2. Edward Deas Thompson - letters (3) received, 1830, 1848; photographs in the PICMAN Database. 3. Thomson family correspondence, 1829 - 1837 (MLMSS 7270; photographs in the PICMAN Database.
Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 2
A biography is on the 'Electric Scotland' Website: http://www.electricscotland.com/history/australia/thomson_edward.htm
S. G. Foster, Colonial Improver: Edward Deas Thomson 1800 - 1979, MUP, 1978
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