John Turnbull Thomson, Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society: An early New Zealand geographer

John Turnbull Thomson is more known in New Zealand for his work as Chief Surveyor of Otago Province (1856-1876) and first Surveyor General of New Zealand (1877-1879). He was also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society of London from 1848 until his death in 1884. Thomson was an important and early self-declared 'does' of geographer in New Zealand, prior to the establishment of university geography in 1937. Thomsons contribution included survey and mapping but he also gave public lectures on geography and contributed to debates about glaciation.