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James Russell Thomson, Scotland / Australia

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AmazingGrace08

AmazingGrace08 Report 1 Feb 2010 02:58

Trying to find anything about a James Russell Thomson.

The only information that I know is the following:

He was born in Scotland circa 1818
He emigrated to Australia, arriving at the Ballarat goldfields in Victoria in 1852
He must have done well, eventually he is noted on his probate record that he is a Gentleman, on one web site he is noted as a wealthy stockbroker.
He died on 28 May 1886 at Ballarat, and in his will bequeathed 3,000 pounds to the Ballarat Botanical Gardens. This was used to build a Statutory which contained a number of marble statues. His bequest was used to create a large statue to William Wallace in dedication to his homeland, so he must have been a pretty passionate Scottie!
He is buried at Ballarat Cemetery and is stated as being a Bachelor.
In some instances he is referred to as J Russell Thomson, other as James R Thomson so I am not sure which or either of these is the correct version.
I have not been able to locate him at all on the Scottish records nor on the Australian ones.
I can locate a death but need a few more details to confirm that it is him before ordering this.

My mother is most insistent that he is related to my grandmothers line, and two relatives who came out from Scotland asked to go to Ballarat specifically to see the Gardens due to him, so I am not sure if there is any substance or just another story that gets handed down then found not to be true!

Can anyone help?

Rachelle