William Thomson

Life in New Zealand Thomson and his family came to Christchurch on the Hampshire, arriving in Lyttelton in 1853. He bought a property at Governors Bay that he called 'Hemingford', from where he ran a dairy farm and supplied Lyttelton with firewood. These pursuits not proving sufficiently lucrative, he sold his property to William Sefton Moorhouse. It later changed ownership to Thomas Potts and became known as Ohinetahi; the building is these days a Category I heritage listing registered by Heritage New Zealand.

Thomson bought a section in Papanui and called this property Scotstown, Scottstoun or Scottstown.

Thomson worked as an auctioneer, accountant and commission agent. He set up the first auction mart in the city. He was a shareholder in the Canterbury Standard, a Christchurch newspaper that was published from June 1854 until 1866 by Joseph Brittan. From the late 1850s until 1861, he owned Lochinvar Station in North Canterbury, on the Esk River, which he stocked with cattle. Alfred Richard Creyke stood in the 1861 general election (held on 1 February) in the Avon electorate for Parliament, whilst William Thomson stood in the same electorate for the Canterbury Provincial Council. Thomson proposed Creyke and vice versa; both were elected unopposed.

In the September 1861 election to the Provincial Council, Thomson was the highest polling candidate. Other successful candidates were Thomas Smith Duncan, Charles Bowen and Edward Templer; John Shand and Alfred Richard Creyke (who at the time was still representing the Avon electorate in Parliament) were unsuccessful. Thomson was elected as Provincial Auditor on 25 October 1861, proposed by John Ollivier but opposed by James FitzGerald. He was succeeded in this role upon his death by John Ollivier. When road boards, the predecessors of district councils, were first established, Thomson became the chairman of the Avon Road Board. wrote about Thomson that he was "portly in presence and strong in voice, could both be seen and heard."

Death Thomson was a Captain with the Canterbury Yeomanry Cavalry. He died on 20 April 1866 at his home Scotstown, aged 48. He was buried at Papanui Cemetery four days later with military honours. Other Captains of the Yeomanry Cavalry were pallbearers, including Crosbie Ward, William Sefton Moorhouse and John Cracroft Wilson.

Debt incurred through the Canterbury Standard forced the surviving family members to sell Scotstown. His wife Georgiana survived him by many years and died in January 1894.