View source for William Alexander Thomson

{{Short description|Canadian politician}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=September 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{About|the Canadian author and politician||William Thomson (disambiguation){{!}}William Thomson}}

'''William Alexander Thomson''' (November 1, 1816 &ndash; October 1, 1878) was a [[Canadian]] author, railway promoter and political figure. He represented [[Welland (electoral district)|Welland]] in the [[House of Commons of Canada]] from 1872 to 1878 as a [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal]] member.

He was born in [[Wigtownshire]], [[Scotland]] and educated there. He emigrated to [[New York (state)|New York]] state before moving to [[Queenston, Ontario|Queenston]], [[Upper Canada]] in 1834. He helped establish the Erie and Niagara Railway, later serving as its president. Thomson was an unsuccessful candidate for the [[Niagara (federal electoral district)|Niagara]] federal seat, losing to [[Angus Morrison (politician)|Angus Morrison]]. He was elected in Welland in an 1872 by-election held after the death of [[Thomas Clark Street]]; he did not run in 1878 because of poor health and died later that year near Queenston.

Thomson published an economic treatise, ''An essay on production, money, and government; in which the principle of a natural law is advanced and explained, whereby credit, debt, taxation, tariffs, and interest on money will be abolished; and national debt and the current expenses of government will be paid in gold'', in 1863.
{{1874 Canadian federal election/Welland}}

{{CANelec/top|CA|23 November 1872|by=yes|percent=yes|change=yes|Niagara Centre|Welland}}
{{CANelec/note|On Mr. Street's death, 6 August 1872|}}
{{CANelec|CA|Liberal|[[William Alexander Thomson]]|1,539|51.0|}}
{{CANelec|XX|Unknown|Richard S. King|1,480|49.0|}}
{{Canadian election result/total|Total valid votes|3,019|100.0}}
{{end}}
== External links ==
*[http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=5294 Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online'']
* {{Canadian Parliament links|ID=4434}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, William A}}
[[Category:1816 births]]
[[Category:1878 deaths]]
[[Category:Liberal Party of Canada MPs]]
[[Category:Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario]]
[[Category:Scottish emigrants to Canada]]
[[Category:People from Niagara-on-the-Lake]]
[[Category:19th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada]]


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