Thomson, Herbert (1870 - 1947)

Summary

Herbert Thomson trained as an engineer and as a boy, worked for his father helping to install coal-producing bores at Yallourn and Altona. In 1889 he made a steam-engine which was used in a launch on the Yarra River. Thomson set up his own business as a manufacturer of steam-engines and boilers in Melbourne in 1897 and in 1899 built a steam car, one of the first self-propelled road vehicles in Australia. This car is now in the Museum of Victoria and an early Thomson engine is in the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney. Thomson's company was incorporated in 1900 as the Thomson Motor Car Co. Ltd. He also built steam-engines for merry-go-rounds; the best-known, at St Kilda beach, was later purchased by the Commonwealth government and moved to Canberra. Once the company folded in 1912, Thomson worked as a consulting engineer.

Details

Chronology

1897 - 1900

Career position - Established a steam-engine and boiler manufacturing business

1899

Career position - One of Australia's first steam cars built

1900 - 1912

Career position - Thomson Motor Car Co. Ltd established

1912 -

Career position - Consulting Engineer

Published resources

Book Sections

• Downing, H., 'Thomson, Herbert (1870-1947), car manufacturer and engineer' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 12: 1891 - 1939 Smy-Z, John Ritchie, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1990), p. 215. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A120236b.htm. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q24225302. Details
• 'Thomson, Herbert (1870-1947)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1467776. Details

See also

• Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/index_t.html. Details