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Bessie Thomson (19 March 1858 - 11 May 1892) was a Scottish painter.

Life
Her father was the Professor James Thomson (16 February 1822 – 8 May 1892) and her uncle was William Thomson (26 June 1824 – 17 December 1907), Lord Kelvin. Both her father and uncle were born in Northern Ireland into an Ulster-Scots family; and like their mathematician father before them went to Glasgow University and made Scotland their home. Professor James Thomson was an engineer and physicist.

Her mother was Elizabeth Hancock (c.1819 - 15 May 1892). Elizabeth was the daughter of William Hancock, the Assistant Poor Law Commissioner. James and Elizabeth married on 28 December 1854 in Lurgan, Ireland.

Bessie Thomson was born on 19 March 1858 at 6 Franklin Place, Belfast, Ireland. She was born in Ireland as her father James had accepted a civil engineering post at Queen's University, Belfast. The family moved back to Glasgow in 1873.

Art
She became a early member of the Glasgow Society of Lady artists. Her painting 'A Little Truant' was at their second exhibition in 1885, at 136 Wellington Street. It was noted by the Glasgow Herald that the work 'graphically expresses the timidity and shamefacedness of a boy who has shirked school and would like also to shirk the consequences of doing so'.

Death
She died of pleurisy on 11 May 1892 at her home in 2 Florentine Gardens, Hillhead Street, Glasgow. The disease swept through the household. Her father died of pleurisy on 8 May 1892, her mother died of pleurisy on 15 May 1892. Her estate was valued at £605, 16 shillings and 5 pence.

Obit.