MR G. M. THOMSON

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22057, 13 September 1933, Page 8

MR G. M. THOMSON

TRIBUTE BY, OTAGO INSTITUTE “As this is the first meeting of the institute since the death of our esteemed and respected member, Mr G. M. Thomson, it seems natural that it should fall to me, as the oldest member of the institute and one whose friendship with the deceased extends back 35 years, to move a resolution of sympathy with his sons,” said Dr Benham at a meeting of the Otago Institute last night. The deceased, he said, wag the last of the old-fashioned naturalists, in the widest Sense. He was also an amateur naturalist, and the speaker did not use this term in any derogatory way, for in the past much of the institute’s knowledge of zoology and botany was built up by men who took up the subject of plants and animals out of pure love. Mr Thomson was elected a member of the institute in 1872, so that he was practically contemporary with it. He was elected to the council of the institute in 1875, and remained a member till the last. On three occasions he acted as secretary, and a similar number of times was president. He was also one of the representatives, or governors, of the New Zealand Institute from 1905 until the time of his death. The speaker gave a comprehensive survey of some of the more important work with which Mr Thomson had been associated. Mr Thomson, said the, speaker, was always ready to give assistance to other zoologists, and to that end he presented to the Museum his collection of Crustacea. It was hoped to add his portrait to that of other naturalists and donors. ‘ The following motion was moved by the speaker and carried by the meeting:—“That the council and members of the Otago Institute have been deprived by the death of George Malcolm Thomson, F.L.S., of a member whom they held in high esteem, and that they share in the sorrows of his sons and other relatives in the loss of a kindly gentleman and of an able naturalist.”