Thomas John Thomson (1877 - 1917)

Born 5 Aug 1877 in Claremont, Ontario, Canada

Ancestors

Died 8 Jul 1917 at age 39 in Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada

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Biography

Tom Thomson is Notable.

Tom Thomson is/was a significant Ontarian .

Thomas John "Tom" Thomson, the son of John Thomson (abt.1840-1930) and Margaret J (Matheson) Thomson (1842-1925), was born on Aug. 5, 1877 in Claremont, Ontario.

Tom Thomson is a stellar figure in the history of Canadian art. He is the subject of more than thirty-five books* and seven films, as well as musical and theatrical works^[1]. His influence is immediately apparent in the sheer number of primary and secondary sources and citations given on his Wikipedia profile^[2].

He was an associate of J.E.H. McDonald, A.Y. Jackson, F.H. Varley, Arthur Lismer, and Lawren Harris of the Group of Seven. The shack where he lived for the last three winters of his life, at the back of the famed Studio Building in Toronto^[3], was preserved and was moved to the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ontario and can be visited there today.

Following his birth, his family moved to Sydenham, Grey Township, Huron County, Ontario when he was two months old, and he is listed on the Canada Census, 1881, at the age of 3, living there with his parents and many siblings^[4].

In 1901, he is shown at the age of 23 in the Canada Census for that year living with his parents and some siblings in Grey Township, Huron, Ontario^[5].

From about 1902 to 1912, he worked as a commercial engraver in Seattle and Toronto, and it was towards the end of this time that he began his transition to full-painter en plein air in Algonquin Park^[6].

On July 8, 1917, Thomson drowned while canoeing in Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park in Ontario^[7]. He was not yet forty years old and had been seriously painting for only about five years. He was originally buried in the Mowat Cemetery near Algonquin Park ^[8] but was later disinterred and moved to the family plot in the Leith United Church Cemetery in Leith, Ontario ^[9]. A cairn was erected to his memory on the shore of Canoe Lake in September, 1917.

Thomson's iconic paintings are held at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, and the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ontario and the Tom Thomson Art Gallery in Owen Sound, Ontario.

His paintings "The West Wind" (1917) and "Jack Pine" (1916-1917) are familiar to most Canadians.

Sources

1. ↑ https://www.owensound.ca/en/exploring/ttag-tomthomsonabout.aspx
2. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_and_legacy_of_Tom_Thomson
3. ↑ https://www.aci-iac.ca/art-books/tom-thomson/biography/
4. ↑ "Canada Census, 1881", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MVF5-L83 : Wed Oct 04 08:46:46 UTC 2023), Entry for John Thompson and Margaret Thompson, 1881.
5. ↑ "Canada Census, 1901", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KH2Y-45X : Fri Oct 06 14:45:51 UTC 2023), Entry for John Thomson and Margaret Thomson, 1901.
6. ↑ https://www.aci-iac.ca/art-books/tom-thomson/biography/
7. ↑ "Canada, Ontario Deaths, 1869-1937 and Overseas Deaths, 1939-1947", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JKW3-L5H : Sat Oct 14 02:01:05 UTC 2023), Entry for Tom Thompson and John Thompson, 08 Jul 1917.
8. ↑ "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVKJ-5GQX : 30 May 2020), Tom Thomson, 1917; Burial, , ; citing record ID , Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
9. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/10480/tom-thomson: accessed 25 November 2023), memorial page for Tom Thomson (5 Aug 1877–8 Jul 1917), Find a Grave Memorial ID 10480, citing Leith United Church Cemetery, Leith, Grey County, Ontario, Canada; Maintained by Find a Grave.

• amazon.ca
• https://www.aci-iac.ca/art-books/tom-thomson/biography/ David Silcox is the author of the classic study of Tom Thomson first published in 1977 and re-released in a new edition in 2017.
• The Canadian Encyclopedia
• Wikipedia contributors, "Tom Thomson," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tom_Thomson&oldid=794399969 (accessed August 13, 2017).
• "Canada, Ontario Births and Baptisms, 1779-1899", , FamilySearch hhttps://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FMQS-X72 : 13 February 2020), Thomas John Thomson, 1877.
• Ancestry.com. Ontario, Canada Births, 1858-1913 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Archives of Ontario; Series: MS929; Reel: 29
• Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1881 Census of Canada [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009. Year: 1881; Census Place: Sydenham, Grey North, Ontario; Roll: C_13262; Page: 44; Family No: 183
• Ancestry.com. Ontario, Canada, Deaths and Deaths Overseas, 1869-1947 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Series: MS935; Reel: 233
• Find A Grave: Memorial #10480 retrieved 30 October 2017 Photo of gravestone for Thomas John 'Tom' Thomson in Leith United Church Cemetery, Leith, Grey, Ontario, Canada.