Person Record
Metadata
Name |
Thomson, Tom |
Othernames |
Thomas John Thomson |
Born |
08/05/1877 |
Birthplace |
Claremont, Ont. |
Places of residence |
Claremont, Ontario (as an infant) Sydenham Township, Grey County (Lot 36 Concession A). Owen Sound, Grey County Seattle? Toronto Algonquin Park |
Titles & honors |
Tom Thomson Memorial Art Gallery at Owen Sound Tom Thomson Trail Tom Thomson Lane |
Father |
John Thomson (b. 1840) |
Mother |
Margaret Thomson (nee Mathieson/Matheson |
Nationality |
Canadian |
Education |
Leith school (S.S.#13 Sydenham) Did not attend highschool Attended Canada Business College (at Chatham) |
Notes |
Tom Thomson was born on August 4, 1877, at Claremont, Ontario, where his family lived before they moved to Sydenham Township, Grey County, when Tom was an infant. His full name was Thomas John Thomson. His parents were John and Margaret Thomson. Mrs. Thomson's maiden name was Margaret Matheson / Mathieson. The Owen Sound Collegiate & Vocational Institute 125th Anniversary Auditorium book (1981), p. 16, mentions the following: "Incidentally, many people have wondered why the artists, George and Tom Thomson, did not attend the Owen Sound High School. An answer to the question is given by Mr. Wilson Buzza, whose family knew the Thomson family well, and for many years owned the farm near Leith where Tom Thomson lived from his first year to his twenty-first. Apparently, all the Thomson children attended the public school at Leith, but on completion of their studies, they were expected to work on the family farm until they reached the age of twenty-one. The only exception was one of Tom's sisters, an outstanding scholar who the father allowed to attend the Owen Sound High School, and Normal School. As each of the brothers, George, Henry and Tom, reached the age of twenty-one, he received a sizeable bequest from his grandfather's estate and sought independence by leaving home. Each in turn attended the Canada Business College, in Chatham." Tom Thomson worked briefly at Wm. Kennedy & Sons at Owen Sound as an apprentice when he was 21 years old. In one of the Kennedy ledgers at Grey Roots, one can see the page which records this, and the word "Quit". A letter transcribed and added in the back of the updated REMINISCENCES OF NORTH SYDENHAM book (Allan Ross, 1924), written by a friend of Tom Thomson's, provides some information about the Thomson family and mentions that Tom's parents moved from Leith to Owen Sound in 1905. Tom Thomson attended the S.S. No. 13 Leith School. The family was musically-inclined. Tom played the ______. Leith had an orchaestra band. In the 1901 census of Sydenham Township.: Lot 36, Concession A Thomson, John, b. Feb. 3, 1840 Ont. age 61 Presbyterian Farmer His wife, Margaret, was born Nov. 3, 1842, age 58, born in P.E. Louisa Thomson was born July 4, 1873 and was 27 years old in 1901. Minnie Thomson was born April 16, 1875, age 25 Thomas Thomson b. Aug. 5, 1877, age 23 Ralph Thomson, b. March 19, 1880, age 21 Margaret Thomson, Jan. 22, 1884, age 17 Fraser Thomson, b. July 15, 1886, age 14 Henrietta Matheson (sister-in-law of John's), b. Feb. 14, 1853 in P.E. William Bone, a Farm Labourer, 25 years of age (b. Dec. 30, 1873) was also living with the family. After he drowned in Canoe Lake, at Algonquin Park, Tom's remains were brought home to Leith, and his family had him buried beside the church which he had attended in his youth. The roadway in front of the church in later years was named "Tom Thomson Lane" in his honour. Visitors to the churchyard sometimes leave offerings of coins or paintbrushes on his grave. There is an image of four of the Thomson brothers, along with Tom Harkness, published on the cover of the Angie Littlefield book. Tom Thomson is at the far left. |
Occupation |
Landscape Artist/ Paintings Graphic Artist Outdoorsman / Fisherman Leith Band / Orchaestra Employee at William Kennedy & Sons Limited (briefly) |
Publications |
Croft, Melba, A PORT OF SOME IMPORTANCE, p. 147, has an image of Tom Thomson posed with some fish and an image of him with Arthur Lismer in a canoe. Gillard, William & Tooke, Thomas, THE NIAGARA ESCARPMENT: FROM TOBERMORY TO NIAGARA FALLS, 1972, has an image of the Thomson family home in Sydenham Twp. Littlefield, Angie, THE THOMSONS OF DURHAM: TOM THOMSON'S FAMILY HERITAGE, 2005 (has images and information about the Thomson and Brodie families) Ross, Allan, REMINISCENCES OF NORTH SYDENHAM, 1924, reprinted in 1991, has several pages about the Thomsons in the the newer edition (see pages 270-276). |
Relationships |
His siblings were: George Thomson Elizabeth Thomson (Mrs. Harkness) Henry Thomson Louisa Thomson (Mrs. Henry) Minnie Thomson (Mrs. William Henry) Ralph Thomson Margaret Thomson (Mrs. Tweedale) James Brodie Thomson Fraser Thomson - - - Grandfather: Tam Thomson - - - Nephew: George Harkness |
Role |
Artist |
Spouse |
n/a |
Children |
n/a |
