Thomson Family Tree

The Thomson surname can be spelt both with and without the 'P'. In my own family research I found the presence of the 'P' in one generation then disappeared the next. This could simply be down to the registrar who recorded the birth information. The spelling Thomson is generally favoured in Scotland and Thompson in England.

The Scottish surname Thomson is generally associated with Clan Mactavish but that may not necessarily be so. (see information supplied by George Thomson Below)

Campbell / Cash / Fraser / Kash / MacCamish / MacCash / MacCavish / MacCosh / MacLaws / MacElhose / MacLehose / MacTavish / MacTeague / Stephens / Stephenson / Stevens / Stevenson / Tawesson / Teague / Thom / Thomas / Thomason / Thomasson / Thompson / Thomson / Todd (Split Clan) / All variant spellings.
Published in the interest of the MacTamhais families.

Many Scottish Thomsons found that the prevalence of the Thompson spelling was so strong in Canada that it was adopted. Thomsons have been part of Canadian history from the time of exploration to the present.

The following additional information was kindly added by George Thomson (george@thomsons.org)

There is no question that there are some Thomsons who originate from the clan MacTavish. Given the tiny size of the clan, however, they are an extremely small and insignificant proportion of the vast legions of us who contribute a considerable degree of leavening to the population of the world. There are also Thomsons with origins in Clan Fraser, and probably some in the Campbell and Macintosh parent clans of MacTavish and MacThomas respectively. The difference there, incidentally, is that where MacThomas acknowledges its origins as descendants of Thomas Macintosh, and thus the Macintosh and Clan Chattan connections.,

There are also several Scottish Border families of Thomsons, including that of Lord Thomson of Fleet, and that to which Joseph Thomson (of Thomson's Gazelle and Thomson's Falls fame) belonged. Other lowland families include the Thomsons of Corstorphine and the Thomsons of Duddingston (as detailed in Burke's Peerage). Thompson is, in general terms, more likely to be of English origin, although American and Canadian Thompsons may well have originated from Scottish Thomson families. It seems that the North American immigration authorities became so confused with "Thomson" and "Thompson" spellings that they lumped them all together under Thompson. Thom, and Thomas (as surnames) seem to be usually of Welsh origin and, despite a lack of clear genealogical evidence, are generally so described by most authorities. William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, was of Irish stock, but may have originated from a Scottish Thomson family. Some other famous Thomsons, as the father and son great nuclear physicists,(George and William) are clearly English, although they may also have Scottish origins.