Thomas Thomson

Thomas Thomson FRSE FSA Scot (10 November 1768 – 2 October 1852) was a Scottish advocate, antiquarian and archivist who served as Principal Clerk of Session (1828–1852) and as secretary of the literary section of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1812–20). Life Thomas Thomson was born in Dailly manse on 10 November 1768, the eldest son of Rev Thomas Thomson, minister of Dailly in Ayrshire, and his second wife, Mary, daughter of Francis Hay. John Thomson was a younger brother. After attending the parish school of Dailly, he entered the University of Glasgow at age 13, where he graduated with an MA on 27 April 1789. He attended classes in theology and law at the University of Edinburgh from 1789 to 1791. He passed the Scottish bar as an advocate on 10 December 1793. His early Edinburgh address was 19 North Castle Street. Here he was a neighbour and close friend to Walter Scott, at that time also a fellow advocate. Thomson acquired a practice at the bar, particularly in cases demanding legal learning. Legal and historical antiquities later absorbed his attention. His main role was deputy clerk-register of Scotland, a new post to which he was appointed on 30 June 1806. His work mainly consisted of reforming the system of public registries and the method of the custody of records, in rendering these records accessible to research, in rescuing and repairing old records, and in editing the acts of the Scottish parliament and other governmental records under the authority of the Record Commission.