John Thomson was born in Shawlands, Glasgow Scotland on 26 June 1859. He was articled to his father, Alexander "Greek" Thomson (1817-1875) in 1875 and remained with him as his assistant until 1881. He also attended the Royal Academy Schools and the South Kensington School of Architecture in London. He worked as an assistant to William Wallace and William Flockhart of Wallace & Flockhart in Glasgow from 1881 to c.1875 and to Samuel Tucker.
Thomson commenced independent practice as an architect in Glasgow in 1886 and in 1886 formed a partnership with Robert Douglas Sandilands (1854-1913) as Thomson & Sandilands, with an office in Glasgow. The partnership was formally dissolved in April 1914. It was re-formed later that year as Thomson Sandilands & MacLeod with Alexander Hood Macleod (1889-1941) as a third partner. Sandilands' name was retained in the title even though he had died a year before it was established.
Thomson was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1906. He died in Glasgow on 14 August 1933.
For a list of architectural projects by John Thomson and his practice see Dictionary of Scottish Architects 1660-1980
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 2: L-Z. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001
Mireylees, Suzanne. In the shadow of Gartloch: The life and work of John Thomson & Robert Douglas Sandilands. Ph.D. thesis, University of St. Andrews, 2005