David and Mary Thomson

David was born on 30 Sep 1763 in Netherknock, Westerkirk, Dumfries, Scotland. He was a stonemason like his father. David married Mary Glendinning on 30 Nov 1787 in Westerkirk.

Between 1760 and 1830, many tens of thousands of Lowland Scots emigrated, taking advantage of the many new opportunities offered in Canada and the United States to own and farm their own land. Mary and David decided to emigrate to Upper Canada (Ontario) where his brother Archibald had moved. Mary had four children in Scotland before she and David emigrated in 1796. In Canada, she had seven more children.

“The Thomson saga began when David Thomson, his wife Mary, and their four young children arrived in Canada in 1796. On July 14, 1796, his brother Archibald petitioned for a Land Grant for David and noted in his petition that David and his family had just arrived in June 23, 1796. However, David and his family did not settle initially in Scarborough. They first lived in Newark (now known as Niagara-on-the-Lake) where David worked as a mason for his brother Archibald, who had settled there earlier. The family Bible records the birth of the couple's fifth child, named after David's brother Archibald, on August 2nd, 1796 at Newark. David's own account book clearly indicates that he worked at Newark until at least June of 1797.

On June 20, 1797, David Thomson made a land petition for a town lot in York. A town lot was ordered.  There are no entries in his account book between June 23 and July 26th, 1797, but David and his family are recorded as being inhabitants of York on July 17, 1797 when the first York Town Meeting was held. It can be reasonably assumed, therefore, that the family moved from Newark to York early in the summer of 1797. At York, David worked as a mason, constructing the first Government Buildings. His account book verifies that he began "the wall the Government Brick house" on July 26th, 1797. That winter, Mary gave birth to the couple's sixth child, David D. Thomson, on February 27th, 1798 at York. This information was documented in the family Bible.

Although there was no list of inhabitants of York for 1798, a Town meeting was held in March 1799, at Miles Tavern in York and a list of all the inhabitants of the Townships of York, Scarborough and Etobeconk (sic) was recorded. No one was listed as living in Scarborough at that time and David Thomson, his family of eight, and friends James Elliot and Andrew Johnson were all listed as living in York.

On May 21st, 1799, David Thomson petitioned for land "in Scarborough, where he resided and was the first settler of that Township." Peter Russell, who was then the administrator of Upper Canada, endorsed the petition stating, "In consideration of the Petitioner's large family and his being the first settler who has built a house and resides in Scarborough, ordered 200 acres." David finally received his land patent after family Bible records the birth as that of Janet (Jennet), born May 18th, 1800 in Scarborough. These newly uncovered facts now lead us to believe that David and Mary Thomson decided to leave the dampness of muddy York and move to the drier land of Scarborough, most likely in the spring of 1799. They were accompanied by John Thomson, (known as "Thomson of the Bay”), and James Elliot. David was elected pathmaster and fence viewer for Scarborough in 1799. A road to York was built in 1799. When David Thomson took the oath of allegiance and other oaths to qualify for a grant of land at York on the 2nd day of July in 1801, he was described as having "light grey eyes, brown hair, about 5'10", 37 years old." David was a staunch Presbyterian, a Free Mason, and a Conservative. David took out the patent for his land, lot 24, concession 1, two hundred acres on May 17th, 1802 in Scarborough. He still owned lot 5 then Duchess St Toronto in 1806.

David Thomson built a log cabin adjacent to the Highland Creek, near the site of the old Native village and within what is now Thomson Memorial Park. The list of inhabitants of York recorded at the town Meeting held March 3rd, 1800, notes that the entire population of Scarborough totaled 11 persons, eight of whom were David, Mary and their six children. Later that spring, the couple's eleventh child Janet was born. She was the first documented birth in Scarborough.

The other three settlers who come out with the Thomson Family were unmarried men: James Elliot, Andrew Johnson and Joseph Ketchum. The following year they were joined by: David's brother Archibald and his family of 10, William Cornell, William Jones, and a few others; thus quadrupling township's total population from 11 to 43! Among David Thomson's many accomplishments, which began with the building of the jail in Newark in 1797, and the first "parliament buildings" in York (Toronto), were his efforts to literally build Scarborough’s first settlement; constructing its first school, church, sawmill and tavern. This activity led to the creation of a small village known as the Thomson Settlement. David and Mary Thomson donated an acre of land from their farm for a small church building erected in 1819.

War of 1812
When war was declared by the United States against Great Britain in 1812, David Thomson was given a commission in the 3rd York Regiment of Militia, and no doubt fulfilled the attendant obligation of raising the company he was to command from the settlers in the township, so many of whom bore his own name. On January 19, 1810, David Thomson received his commission as a captain. The men of Scarborough responded loyally to the call to arms and from the family records of the township we know that they were with General Brock at Detroit, when Hull surrendered on August 16th, 1812. We also know the following.

On Apr. 27, 1813, he was taken prisoner at the Capture of York. 

On December 24, 1814, David was still serving as a captain in the 3rd York Militia. 

On June 5, 1815, it was reported that he had resigned his commission as a captain. 

About a year before he died David Thomson underwent a surgical operation, having his leg amputated for some disease of the knee. When Drs. Graham and Hamilton were ready to operate, the old man, with a nerve wonderful in one of his age, mounted the table without assistance, laid himself down, and endured the amputation without flinching. He died in 1834, and was buried in the old church yard of St. Andrew's. His wife survived him some years, dying on November 8th, 1847. A large tombstone marks the spot where they lie.

In 1921, a monument was erected to David and Mary in St. Andrew’s Cemetery, Scarborough, Ontario. In 1959, a high school called David and Mary Thomson Collegiate Institute opened in Scarborough on land owned by descendants of the Thomson family. Thomson Memorial Park and the Scarborough Historical Museum (established in 1962) commemorate the pioneering spirit of Scarborough's first permanent settlers. The museum is on the site where a Native village was in the 13th century, and then the homestead of Scarborough's first permanent settler-family. The museum is on some of the original acres of land that David and Mary Thomson were granted in 1802. The museum tells the tale of Scarborough's rural past and the universal story of experiences faced by immigrants to a new land.