George Thomson (1904-79), BSc, PhD, MBE, Lecturer in Chemistry, 1927-69

Elaine MacGillivray

(First published in Dunaskin News, May 2003)

Like many of the papers of academic staff deposited at GUAS, this month’s featured archive is an exemplary collection that provides a wide range of historical material, which can be used by a variety of researchers.  George Thomson was a lecturer in the Chemistry Department of Glasgow University from 1927 until 1969.  The collection spans over a century, dating from as early as 1839, up until 1979, the year of his death.

A Glasgow University student from 1921, George Thomson graduated with a BSc in 1925, and a PhD in 1929.  He was appointed as a member of staff in the Chemistry Department in 1927, and remained as a lecturer there until his retirement in 1969.  Dr Thomson contributed a number of publications to his discipline, copies of which are held in the collection.  Titles to be found in the collection include The Solvent Effect in Dielectric Polarisation (1937), and Measurements of x-ray Intensities from Reversed Films (1960).

Other than Chemistry, Dr Thomson held a number of interests to which he dedicated his spare time.  Dr Thomson resided in Airdrie, in the Monklands district of Lanarkshire, for most of his life.  He was a keen local historian and helped to found the Monklands Historical Society, and contributed to The Book of Airdrie, and The Scottish Historical Review.  The culmination of his research and knowledge of local history resulted in his editorship of The Third Statistical Account of Scotland: Review of the County of Lanark (1960).

Dr Thomson produced a plethora of research notes, lectures, and published works, in which he studied various Scottish industries.  These represent a substantial part of the collection.  These records trace the economic and industrial development of Lanarkshire, and potentially reflect those of Scotland as a whole. Dr Thomson was instrumental in encouraging the use of music to enhance local community life.  An accomplished organist and conductor of a number of amateur choirs, in 1926 he founded Caldercruix Musical Association and later the Airdre and District Choir.

From 1946-67 he was the chairman of The Lanark County Music Committee and was active in the organisation of the first twenty Lanarkshire music festivals.  In 1955 he was appointed as the Scottish representative of the Central Board of the Federation of British Music Festivals, and in 1957 he became chairman of the Executive Committee of the Scottish Amateur Music Association.  Dr Thomson’s dedication was recognised in the 1969 New Years Honours list when he was awarded the MBE for services to music in Scotland.

The collection is composed of a diverse assortment of material, including personal correspondence, manuscripts, music festival programmes and papers, published and unpublished works, and archival material collected for research.  Other items held include a number of local church history publications and a variety of glass plate negatives that depict an array of images ranging from local landmarks to industrial advertisements.  In addition, there is an impressive collection of ordnance survey maps that date from 1867 to 1958.  The collection gives an insight into the life of a remarkable man and affords an invaluable resource of research material to a broad range of historical researchers.