Alexander Thomson (pioneer) - Emigration To Colonial Australia

Emigration To Colonial Australia

In 1825 Thomson sailed to Tasmania (then Van Diemen's Land) as a surgeon on a convict ship, the first of several voyages made by him. He was then in comfortable circumstances having been left a sum of £9500 by his mother. In 1831 he decided to settle in Tasmania, and bringing with him his wife and daughter, obtained a grant of 4000 acres (16 km²) of land.

In 1832 he bought two small steamers and established a service between Hobart and Kangaroo Point. He, however, sold both vessels during the next two years. He became interested in the colonization of Port Phillip, but did not join the Port Phillip Association, though invited to do so, and in November 1835 he sent across the first cattle to arrive in the new settlement, a draft of 50 Hereford cows. In March 1836 Thomson arrived with his wife and daughter. He came over as medical officer and catechist for the Port Phillip Association, and built a house near the corner of Flinders and Elizabeth streets, Melbourne. In May he acted as one of three arbitrators in connexion with disputes between Henry Batman and John Pascoe Fawkner, and before his house was completed he was in the habit of holding a service on Sunday in his tent.

He was secretary to the first public meeting held in Melbourne, on 1 June, and in October William Lonsdale appointed him medical officer at a salary of £200 a year. He resigned this position in January 1837.