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Former Member Details

Mr James THOMSON (1824 - 1899)

Member Photo
Date of Birth: 26/08/1824
Place of Birth: Port Dalrymple, Launceston, Tasmania
Date of Death: 07/06/1899
Place of Death: Burrier, New South Wales, Australia
Parliamentary Service
Position Start End Period Notes
Member for St Vincent 10 Apr 1856 19 Dec 1857 1 year 8 months 10 days
Member of the NSW Legislative Assembly 10 Apr 1856 19 Dec 1857 1 year 8 months 10 days
Political Party Activity
Community Activity
Qualifications, occupations and interests
Worked at the Bank of Australasia in Tasmania. He was appointed as a magistrate on 17 April, 1848.
Military Service
Honours Received
Membership of other Parliaments & Offices Held
Local Government Activity
Personal
Married Mary Mackenzie. They had twelve children, of whom five sons and four daughters survived.
Additional Information
Young Shoalhaven squatter and magistrate, James Thompson, was Mary Reibey's grand-son. His father, Lieutenant Thomas Thompson of the Royal Marines had sailed to Sydney in 1821 on the same ship as Mrs Mary Reibey and her daughters, one of whom, Eliza, her second daughter, he married in Hobart on 20 November while on the voyage (Sydney Gazette, Sat 15 Dec 1821, p3). Thompson and Eliza moved to Tasmania where Eliza's brother operated a branch of the Reibey business. Thomas Thompson died on 11 July, 1844, in Launceston, Tasmania, at the age of 50 years (Cornwall Chronicle, Sat 13 July 1844, p2). Thomas and Eliza's son, James, was born in Port Dalrymple, Launceston, Tasmania, on 26 August, 1824 (Sydney Gazette, Thur 30 Sep 1824, p3). He worked at the Bank of Australasia in Tasmania before moving to his grandmother, Mary Reibey family's property, Burrier, near Nowra, in 1847. He was appointed as a magistrate on 17 April, 1848. Thomson married Mary Mackenzie, daughter of Dr Kenneth Mackenzie, on 20 April, 1860 (Examiner, Sat 28 Apr 1860, p3). They had twelve children, of whom five sons and four daughters survived. James died at Burrier on 7 June, 1899 (Shoalhaven Telegraph, Sat Jun 10 1899, p2 & Shoalhaven News, Sat Jun 10 1899, p2). Although an active man in the district throughout his life, because of the difficult journey to Sydney and local commitments, Thompson only attended one session during his term in parliament and had no inclination to stand again in 1858. Other sources: Sydney Monitor, Fri 20 Oct 1837, p3 Shoalhaven Telegraph, Sat 17 Jun 1899, p2 NSW Coroner's Inquests re death of a child in 1872 SMH, Mon 4 Nov 1872, p10 The Land, Fri 28 April 1927, p1 Joanna Davis