He was born in Edinburgh in 1863 one of seven sons to Thomas Thomson (1820–1883) an Edinburgh businessman. His father owned a silk and drapery shop at 135
Princes Street. The family lived at 5 Osborne Terrace in Edinburgh. He attended the
High School in Edinburgh then, after two years studying in France and Germany, studied medicine at the
University of Edinburgh. He graduated with an
MB ChB with Honours in 1885. In 1888 he was elected a member of the
Harveian Society of Edinburgh. In 1890 he won a gold medal for his thesis on
tuberculosis of bones and joints and received his doctorate (MD). The
Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh awarded him their Freeland-Barbour Fellowship. He initially worked at the
Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh under
Dr John Duncan. In 1909 he succeeded
Professor John Chiene as Professor of Systematic Surgery. In 1910 he was elected a member of the
Aesculapian Club. In August 1914 he began additionally working at the 2nd Scottish General Hospital at Craigleith in west Edinburgh, operating on the wounded troops returning from the
First World War. In 1915 he took leave of absence from his professorship to undertake what he saw as the more pressing issue of surgery on the western front, such as to treat the wounded as soon as possible after injury. He was given the rank of Colonel in this role. Here he worked directly with the 3rd Army of the British Expeditionary Force in northern France. He contracted
trench fever and was invalided home in 1916. He never fully recovered. He was awarded a
Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) for his war work. In later life he lived at 39 Drumsheugh Gardens in Edinburgh's West End. He ceased work due to ill-health in March 1923 and formally retired in October of the same year. He died in
Algeciras in the southern tip of
Spain on 5 March 1924 and is buried in
Gibraltar. His obituary in the
British Medical Journal was written by his friend
Sir Harold Stiles. A monument to his memory was also erected in
Dean Cemetery in western Edinburgh. It lies on the southern path, overlooking the lower southern terrace. ==Publications==