William J. Thomson RSA (Self-Portrait)
Elected RSA: 7 October 1829
William J. Thomson was born in 1771 in Savannah, Georgia, North America. His father Alexander Thomson returned to his native place, Edinburgh, on the breaking out of the American War with Thomson in tow.
He was partly educated in London and practised portrait painting there for several years before settling in Edinburgh in 1812 where he became a portrait painter, primarily in miniature, although in the latter part of his life he occasionally painted in oil.
He was elected RSA in 1829.
