Professor James Thomson (1822-92) Engineer. b. Belfast, 16 Feb 1822. Taught at home by his father, James Thomson Sr (1786-1849), with his brother, William (later Lord Kelvin); both were considered child prodigies. 1832 attended Glasgow University at just 10 years old, graduating with an M.A. with Honours in Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in 1839. 1853, Resident engineer to the Belfast Water Commissioners. 1857-73, Crown Professor of Civil Engineering at Queen's College Belfast. 1873-89, Regius Chair of Civil Engineering, University of Glasgow. An authority on hydraulics, he invented a turbine, discovered the effect of pressure upon freezing point, and wrote papers on elastic fatigue, under-currents and trade winds. Also renowned for his work on water wheels, patenting in 1850 the Vortex water wheel, which came into extensive use. Received honorary degrees from Glasgow University (1870), Queen's University in Ireland (1875) and the University of Dublin (1878). Elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1877. d. Glasgow, 8 May 1892. [Sources: Dictionary of National Biography (1895); Chambers Biographical Dictionary (1990); Walker & McCreary, Degrees of Excellence (1994); James Thomson (1822-1892) by John Rapley, in "Panel for Historical Engineering Works" (PHEW) Newsletter, No 78, June 1998 (Institute of Civil Engineering).] James Thomson (1786-1849) Mathematician and teacher. Father of Professor James Thomson (1822-92) and William Thomson, Lord Kelvin (1824-1907). b. Annaghmore, Co. Down, 17 Nov 1786. Educated at home by his father with subsequent instruction at Ballykine School near Ballynahinch, and, from 1810-12, at Glasgow University. 1814 appointed headmaster of the school of arithmetic, bookkeeping and geography at Belfast Academical Institute, and, in 1815, professor of mathematics in its collegiate department. 1832 appointed Professor of Mathematics at Glasgow University. d. Glasgow, 12 Jan 1849. [Source: Dictionary of National Biography (1895)]
From the guide to the James Thomson Manuscript Collection, 19th century, (Queen's University, Belfast)
