Arthur Thomson (military surgeon)

Surgeon Major Arthur Saunders Thomson (29 December 1816 – 4 November 1860) was a notable Scottish military surgeon, medical scientist, writer and historian.^[2] He was born in Arbroath, Angus, Scotland in 1816.^[5]

Arthur Saunders Thomson
Born	(1816-12-09)9 December 1816 Arbroath, Angus, Scotland
Died	4 November 1860(1860-11-04) (aged 43) Pekin, China[1]
Cause of death	Rupture of an abscess of the liver into the abdominal cavity[2]
Buried	Russian Cemetery, Pekin, China[2]
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Years of service	1838–1860
Rank	Surgeon Major
Service number	4525[3]
Unit	17th (Leicestershire) Regiment of Foot, 1838– 14th (The King's) Regiment of Light Dragoons, 1842– 58th (Rutlandshire) Regiment of Foot, 1847– Staff, 1859–60[3]
Commands	PMO, 2nd Division, British Expeditionary Force, China, 1860[1]
Awards	Gold Medal prize for MD thesis, Medical Faculty, University of Edinburgh, 1837[2]
Memorials	Cenotaph, Saint John Episcopal Graveyard, Edinburgh, Scotland
Alma mater	University of Edinburgh
Spouse(s)	Ngāhiraka Wood[4]
Children	3

He joined the British Army on 19 October 1838 as an assistant surgeon to the 17th (Leicestershire) Regiment of Foot^[6][7] and was stationed in India with the 14th (The King's) Regiment of Light Dragoons until 1847.^[8] There, he wrote about the epidemic of fever among his regiment during the monsoon season. Upon his return to England, he was appointed surgeon to the 58th (Rutlandshire) Regiment of Foot^[9] and sent to New Zealand. In New Zealand he wrote extensively about disease statistics among Māori and European populations and climatology.^[5]

Thomson's book, The Story of New Zealand: Past and Present, Savage and Civilized (1859), is generally considered to be the first scholarly history of the island country.^[10]

He was promoted to surgeon major in 1858^[11] and was sent back to England. A year later, he was placed in charge of the hospital steamship Mauritius and sent to China where he was in medical charge of the 2nd Division, British Expeditionary Force. He died there on 4 November 1860 and was buried in the Russian cemetery, Pekin.^[5]

Publications

• Thomson, Arthur Saunders (1837). Prize Thesis. Inaugural Dissertation on the Influence of Climate on the Health and Mortality of the Inhabitants of the Different Regions of the Globe (Medical Faculty, University of Edinburgh, MD thesis). Edinburgh: John Carfrae & Son – via Wellcome Collection.
• Thomson, Arthur Saunders (1 July 1838). "ART. VII1.-A Statistical Inquiry on Fever, being an attempt to ascertain the prevalence, susceptibility, intensity, and prognosis, with some observations on the influence of Medical Treatment". Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal. 50 (136): 87–118. PMC 5772278. PMID 30330241.
• Thomson, Arthur Saunders (1840). "Art. V. On the Doctrine of Acclimatization". The Madras Quarterly Medical Review. 2. Madras: Union Press: 69–76.
• Thomson, Arthur Saunders (1843). "Article IV. Could the natives of a temperate climate colonize and increase in a tropical country and vice versa?". Transactions of the Medical and Physical Society of Bombay (6). Bombay: Medical and Physical Society of Bombay: 112–138.
• Thomson, Arthur Saunders (1849). Pukapuka ki nga tangata Maori, hei tohu i a ratou i te mate koroputaputa. Akarana (Auckland): Williamson & Wilson – via NLNZ.
• Thomson, Arthur Saunders (1 July 1850). "On the Influence of the Climate of New Zealand in the Production of Disease among Emigrants from Great Britain". Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal. 74 (184): 82–91. PMC 5800638. PMID 30331077.
• Thomson, Arthur Saunders (September 1851). "A Statistical Account of Auckland, New Zealand, as it was Observed During the Year 1848". Journal of the Statistical Society of London. 14 (3): 227–249. doi:10.2307/2338338. JSTOR 2338338 – via JSTOR.
• Thomson, Arthur Saunders (1853). "III.—Observations on the Stature, Bodily Weight, Magnitude of Chest, and Physical Strength of the New Zealand Race of Men". Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London. 23. London: John Murray: 87–93. doi:10.2307/1797950• (inactive 1 November 2024) – via JSTOR.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)
• Thomson, Arthur Saunders (July 1853). "On the Discovery of a Frog in New Zealand". The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal. 55 (109). Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black: 66–69.
• Thomson, Arthur Saunders (10 December 1853). "Observations on the Climate of the North Island of New Zealand". New Zealand. Further Papers Relative to the Affairs of New Zealand. 1860. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. pp. 16–23.
• Thomson, Arthur Saunders (April 1854). "Description of Two Caves in the North Island of New Zealand, in which were found Bones of the large extinct wingless Bird, called the Natives, Moa, and by the Naturalists Dinornis; with some general Observations on the Genus of Birds". The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal. 56 (112). Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black: 268–295.
• Thomson, Arthur Saunders (April 1854). "On the Peculiarities in Figure, the Disfigurations, and the Customs of the New Zealanders; with Remarks on Their Diseases, and on Their Modes of Treatment". The British and Foreign Medico-Chirurgical Review. 13 (26): 489–502. PMC 5800638. PMID 30331077.
• Thomson, Arthur Saunders (April 1855). "On the Peculiarities in Figure, the Disfigurations, and the Customs of the New Zealanders; with Remarks on Their Diseases, and on Their Modes of Treatment". The British and Foreign Medico-Chirurgical Review. 15 (30): 520–529. PMC 5184339. PMID 30164355.
• Thomson, Arthur Saunders (1859). The Story of New Zealand: Past and Present, Savage and Civilized. Vol. 1. London: John Murray – via Internet Archive.
• Thomson, Arthur Saunders (1859). The Story of New Zealand: Past and Present, Savage and Civilized. Vol. 2. London: John Murray – via Internet Archive.

References

1. Stationers' Hall (1861). The Monthly Record of Births, Deaths & Marriages A–Z for the Month Ending January 1, 1861. London: Alfred Knowler and Mrs. Janet Taylor. p. 121.
2. "Obituary. The Late Dr. Arthur S. Thomson". The Medical Times and Gazette. Journal of Medical Science, Literature, Criticism, and News. 1. London: John Churchill: 103. 26 January 1861.
3. Johnston, William (1917). Howell, Harry Arthur Leonard (ed.). Roll of Commissioned Officers of the Medical Service of the British Army. Aberdeen: The University Press. p. 304.
4. Kemp, Jill (2023), Tilley, Dion; WiRepa, Silvana (eds.), South to the Left of Venus: Part 2 (PDF), Opotiki: Jill Kemp, pp. 13–49
5. Belgrave, Michael. "Arthur Saunders Thomson". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
6. Hart, Henry George (1839). The New Army List for 1839. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 68.
7. Hart, Henry George (1842). The New Army List for 1842. London: John Murray. p. 168.
8. Hart, Henry George (1847). The New Army List for 1847. Vol. 8. London: John Murray. p. 140.
9. Hart, Henry George (1848). The New Army List for 1848. Vol. 9. London: John Murray. p. 209.
10. Boyd, Kelly (1999). Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing. Chicago: Taylor & Francis. p. 870. ISBN 978-1-884964-33-6.
11. "Hospital Staff". The London Gazette. No. 22208. 10 December 1858. p. 5386.