Collectors & Explorers
James Thomson
James Thomson
James Thomson was born into a working class family in Kilmarnock in 1823. Although he had little schooling, James was an avid reader and pursued his love of nature, especially geology whenever possible. He became a traveller for a firm of tea merchants which enabled him to amass a collection of rocks and fossils from all over Scotland. He was particularly interested in Carboniferous corals and soon became established as the world expert on the subject.
