Background
Born at Fenchurch Street in London, England, Richard Thomson was the second son of a Scot who was a partner in the firm of seed merchants Gordon, Thomson, Keen, & Company Foreign many years Thomson worked on the antiquities of London.
Born at Fenchurch Street in London, England, Richard Thomson was the second son of a Scot who was a partner in the firm of seed merchants Gordon, Thomson, Keen, & Company Foreign many years Thomson worked on the antiquities of London.
Heraldry was one of his hobbies, and in his early life he assisted investigations of family history. On 14 August 1834, Thomson and Edward William Brayley were elected joint-librarians of the London Institution in Finsbury Circus, in succession to William Maltby. Thomson held the post for the rest of his life.
Thomson died at his rooms in the Institution on 2 January 1865, aged 70.
He was buried at Kensal Green cemetery, in the grave of a brother who had predeceased him. A monument was erected to his memory.
During his lifetime he had given the Institution anonymously many works, and by his will he left it £500.