George Thomson (musician)
George Thomson (1757–1851), born at Limekilns, Fife, Scotland, was a noted collector of the music of Scotland, a music publisher, and a friend of Robert Burns. He was clerk to the Board of Trustees in Edinburgh for sixty years. His A Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs for the Voice came out in five volumes between 1799 and 1818, and included contributions from Burns, Walter Scott and Thomas Campbell. Thomson published folksong arrangements by Joseph Haydn,Ludwig van Beethoven and Johann Nepomuk Hummel.
Early life
His father was the schoolmaster at Limekilns, Dunfermline, and he had some legal training. In 1780 he gained a clerical appointment with the Board of Trustees for the Encouragement of Art and Manufacture in Scotland on the recommendation of John Home, and spent the rest of his career with this body set up under the Treaty of Union to promote Scottish trade with money given by Parliament in compensation for losses in the Darien Scheme and for taking on a share of England's national debt, eventually becoming Chief Clerk. He joined the Edinburgh Musical Society, playing the violin in the orchestra and singing in the choir. For 59 years he worked for the Board of Trustees for the Encouragement of Art and Manufactures in Scotland. His daughter was the wife of editor and music publisher George Hogarth, and his granddaughter married the novelist Charles Dickens.
George Thomson
George Thomson may refer to:
George Thomson (physician)
George Thomson (c. 1619–1676) was an English physician, medical writer and pamphleteer. He was a leading figure in an attempt to create a "College of Chemical Physicians", a rival to the established Royal College of Physicians. He rejected the traditional Galenic approach to medicine and argued against medical bloodletting, purging and the doctrine of curing by "contraries". He performed a splenectomy on a dog which stimulated debate in scientific and medical circles, and challenged prevailing medical theories about the body.
Life and work
Thomson was born around 1619, and served under Prince Maurice in the English Civil War; he was taken prisoner by the parliamentarians at Newbury in 1644 and spent a period in Fleet prison in London. On his release he attempted to obtain a license from the College of Physicians, but finding the licensing charge too excessive, went on to obtain his M.D. from Leyden University (in the Netherlands) instead, graduating on 15 June 1648; the thesis he submitted for this purpose was "Disputatio de Apoplexia" (Leyden, 1648). He subsequently rejected Galenic medicine, becoming a strong supporter of the ideas of Jan Baptist van Helmont (Helmontian medicine).
George Thomson (Canadian politician)
George Thomson (February 8, 1855– July 9, 1920) was a Scottish-born merchant, official and political figure in British Columbia. He represented Nanaimo in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1887 to 1890.
He was born in Ayr, the son of David Thomson and Catherine Smith, and was educated there. He learned the grocery trade and came to Nanaimo in 1873. Thomson was employed by the firm of Harvey and Dunsmuir for ten years. He then went into business on his own as a general merchant. He sold that business and was manager for A. R. Johnson and Company for six years. Thomson was assistant to Government Agent Marshal Bray at Nanaimo for nine years and then was named government agent at Ladysmith. He also served as assessor and collector, stipendiary magistrate, gold commissioner and registrar of births, deaths and marriages. In 1877, Thomson married Sabra Gough. He was elected to the assembly in an 1887 by-election held following the death of William Raybould. Thomson died in Vancouver at the age of 65.
