Born on 2 October 1848 in
Calcutta, Thomson grew up in
Scotland, being educated at the
Edinburgh High School and the
University of Edinburgh. At the age of 20, he emigrated to New Zealand, and, apart from a short period farming at
Mabel Bush,
Southland, spent the rest of his life in
Dunedin. He was said to "know his Dunedin like a book". Thomson's scientific interests were wide, including
fisheries,
crustaceans and the
naturalisation of species. He helped establish the
Portobello Marine Laboratory in 1904. Outside science, he founded many organisations, and was a member of the
New Zealand Parliament for
Dunedin North from the for two parliamentary terms to 1914 and a member of the
Legislative Council from 7 May 1918 for two seven year terms until 6 May 1932. Thomson was President of the
Royal Society of New Zealand between 1907 and 1909; preceded by
James Hector and followed by
Augustus Hamilton. His son,
James Allan Thomson, was New Zealand's first Rhodes Scholar and later Director of the Dominion Museum, Wellington. George Thomson died in Dunedin on 25 August 1933. ==References==