General Notes

He was granted "6000 acres of land and one Island in New England" by the '
Council for the Affairs of New England in America' on 16 October 1622 in P
lymouth, Devonshire, England.  He had his grant signed on 19 November 16
22 in Plymouth, Devonshire, England. He immigrated to America, arriving 16
23; Sent out by Gorges, with wife and son. He occupied the honorable and r
esponsible position of Governor of all settlements made in New England, un
der the oversight ofthe Council, by virtue of the patent granted to the P
lymouth Company between1624 and 1628. He removed to an island in Boston h
arbor, ever since called by his name (His agent, Wm. Trevore, had taken po
ssession of it in 1619, to beproved by evidence of Sagawam, Trevore, a
nd Miles Standish.) in 1626. He wasan apothecary in 1627
In 1616, while in the employ of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, Thomson and Dr. Vin
es sailed on the Abraham to New England in order to explore the coast f
or future settlement. In Nov. 1622 Thomson received a patent for6000 acr
es from the Council of New England, and in 1623 he began the buildi
ng of a plantation for fishermen at Pascataway Harbor. He bought (c. 162
6) Trevour's, later Thompson's Island, in Boston Harbor, dying someti
me in the winter or spring of 1628, ae 36 yrs. per P.P. of Scottish bir
th (Per PiscataquaPioneers) served apprenticeshipunder Dr. Richard Vin
es - Per P.P.[Holbrook.ged] Thompsons Island. In Boston Harbor. David Thom
pson (Thomson), first knownwhite settler of N.H., was at Pannaway (N.H
.) 1623 but moved c.1626 to this island and died soon after. (He was th
us also a pioneer settler on lands thatlater (in 1630) were to become t
he Massachusetts Bay Colony.)
In 1602, David Thomson of Corstorphine, son of Rev.Richard Thomson receiv
ed a bursary (scholarship) to attend the University of Edinburgh as a Phil
osophy major. In the "New English Canaan" Thomas Morton refers to Mr. Dav
id Thomson as a traveler and scholar conversant with the Indians. David
's father Rev. (Magister) Richard Thomson's ecclesiastical appointments we
re from King James (possibly as a distant relation, see chart above). He a
lso received preferential treatmentin terms of large sums of money each y
ear for hisservices and was given a second lucrative assignment on the Bor
ders at the time of the King's journey into England after Queen Elizabeth
's death.
David's father Rev. Richard was the Clerk (legal position) at the Kirk Ass
embly in 1605and was put in a position of siding with his King or everyo
ne else. He sided with the King which resulted in several clergyman havi
ng to go to trial in England, many were exiled.Richard may have been a wi
tness at the trial. He died at the time of the trial. His nephew-in-law Th
omas Hamilton was the lawyer for theKing. The King owed him big-time.
David Thomson's step-mother, Agnes Foulis(widow of Rev. Adam Hepburn), w
as aunt to David Foulis, the Scottish ambassador to England who was also c
losely associated with the Earl of Sterling (WilliamAlexander) as both ser
ved in the court of King James' son Prince Henry who died at the a
ge of 16 years. There is a 1637 letter from the Earl of Sterling to Govern
or Winthrop expressing his concern that Amias and Samuel Maverick are n
ot treating David Thomson's son John properly by using what David had work
ed so hard for their own benefit (clearly the Earl of Sterling, a Scotsm
an knew David well. He succeeded Thomas Hamilton as Secretary of Sta
te of Scotland). David Foulis'father-in-law was the mayor of London. (Th
at is...The King's ambassador toEngland, David Foulis' uncle was David Tho
mson's father, the Rev. Richard Thomson.)
Agnes' niece married Thomas Hamilton, later the Earl of Melrose and Haddin
gton. He was the Secretary of State of Scotland under King James as well a
sat the time of Thomson's Piscataqua grant and his being named Govern
or of Massachusetts on behalf of the Council for New Engl