THE MAKERS OF OTAGO

Otago Witness, Issue 3972, 29 April 1930, Page 4

THE MAKERS OF OTAGO

PIONEERS OF THE PROVINCE.

By

Condor.

XVI—JOHN TURNBULL THOMSON, 1821-1884. The surveys of the province of Otago were reorganised, and much of the interior exploration was carried out, by John Turnbull Thomson, a gentleman of the highest qualifications in his profession and of great intellectual attainments Born at Glororum, near Bamborough, in Northumberland, on April 10, 1821. he was the son of James Thomson, of Earnslaw, Berwickshire, his mother being a daughter of James Turnbull, of Abbey St. Bathans, Berwickshire. He was educated in turn at Duns Academy, at Woo’.er. and at Marischal College. Aberdeen. He studied engineering under eminent masters, and was in the same office with Sir William Armstrong. He then spent 18 years in the Straits Settlements as chief surveyor and civil engineer. During this time he constructed the Horsburgh light on Pedra Branca Rock, in the China Sea. a work of exceptional difficulty, which he completed in 1851. In recognition of this service the merchants of Singapore presented him with a valuable piece of silver plate.

The climate disagreeing with his health, Thomson made up his mind to leave the East, and lie came on a visit to New Zealand in 1856. When he was at Auckland. J. C. Firth and others endeavoured to detain him there, but he was determined to see the whole colony, and came to Otago. Here Captain Cargill, anxious to secure his expert services for the province, offered him the post of chief surveyor. As he had now decided to settle down in Otago, Thomson accepted the offer on the understanding that his official position should not hamper him in any purchase of land that he might wish to make here. Before the year was out he had made a considerable extent of reconnaissance survey, and had fixed on the site of the town of Invercargill, and erected the survey office near where the Supreme Court now stands. He saw thus early the future of Invercargill, and. made investments there which he retained

until his death. . In his capacity as chief surveyor ana provincial engineer, Thomson had to supervise the task of cutting down Bell Hill in Dunedin and many other works which later the municipality took over from the province. The simple and accurate system of surveys which he established in Otago became the model for the colony and withstood triumphantly Major Palmer’s damaging report on the provincial systems. In 1876. just after the abolition of the provinces. Thomson was appointed surveyor-general for the oolony as the natural outcome of the superiority of his system. In his opinion triangulation was an absolute necessity, and he entirely discarded compass bearings in favour of true bearings. On leaving Dunedin, Thomson received a silver urn as a mark of appreciation from the surveyors of the pro--1 vince. Next year, while on leave in the Old Country, he lectured before the Royal Society of Arts of Edinburgh, and was entertained by the society at a public dinner. In 1879, Thomson resigned the

surveyor-generalship and went to live in Invercargill, where he built a fine residence in Gladstone. Relieved of official duties, Thomson took a due part in public affairs. He became a member of the Borough Council, and was for a while Mayor of Gladstone. In 1881 he contested the Mataura seat without success, and at the following election, a few months before his death, he contested Awarau. It was he who persuaded the local authority to adopt the advice of Sir John Coode and deepen the New River by means of a training wall. Thomson’s intellectual pursuits were varied. He delighted especially in ethnology and astronomy, and the community often had the pleasure of hearing his views on those subjects. The Southland Institute, of which he was president from the first, owed its existence to him, and he read many papers before it. In December, 1876, he took an observation of the transit of Venus. He advised Major Palmer to observe it from Lake Wakatipu, but the

advice was declined and an American expedition took advantage of it with excellent results. He was a founder also of the Otago Institute, and a member of the New Zealand Institute. Abroad he was a member of the Royal Scottish Society of Arts, a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and a member of the Natural History Society of Newcastle-qn-Tyne. While in the east he had studied the native languages and lore, and mastered Malay sufficiently to make a competent translation from that language of “ Hakayit Abdulla.” Later he published “ Glimpses into Life in the Far East,” and in . 1867 “ Rambles with a Philosopher.” His last work of importance was “ Social Problems,” published in 1878.

Thomson had a rather distant manner which helped him little in his service on public bodies or in his parliamentary ambitions; but he was a man of high honour and a thorough gentleman, who was best liked by those who knew him best. He died on October 16, 1884, leaving a widow and a large family. His wife, whom he married in 1858, was a Miss Williamson, daughter of a pioneer settler of Otago.