JOHN TURNBULL THOMSON (1821-1884)
Roy 's peak (1,578m - 5,177ft)
New Zealand (South Island)
In Lake Wanaka from Trig Hill with Mt Roy's Peak in the background, oil on canvas, 1857
The mountain
Roy's Peak (1,578m - 5,177ft) is one of the mountains located on the west bank of Lake Wanaka in the South Island of New Zealand. At the top of Roy's Peak there are a couple of radio antennas to spoil the fantastic view.. it offers the most spectacular view on the lake just after 5 hours walk. The start of Roys Peak walk is only 6 Km from Wanaka. From Roys peak you will get the best ever views of the South Island Lakes and Wanaka town. Roys Peak is an exposed alpine track. During the winter you could get caught out in a snow blizzard.
The painter
John Turnbull Thomson was a British civil engineer and artist who played an instrumental role in the development of the early infrastructure of nineteenth-century Singapore and New Zealand.
After his father was killed in a hunting accident in 1830, the young Thomson and his mother went to live in Abbey St. Bathans, Berwickshire. He was educated at Wooler and Duns Academy, later spending some time attached to Marischal College, Aberdeen, and Edinburgh University before studying engineering at Peter Nicholson's School of Engineering at Newcastle-on-Tyne.
Thomson arrived in the Malay Straits in 1838 and was employed by the East India Survey. In 1841 he was appointed Government Surveyor at Singapore and in 1844 became Superintendent of Roads and Public Works. He was responsible for the design and construction of a number of notable engineering works including bridges, roads, and hospitals. His outstanding achievement was the erection of the Horsburgh Lighthouse on Pedra Branca. In 1853 his health failed and he returned to England where he studied modern engineering techniques, and travelled widely through Britain and the Continent inspecting engineering works. Early in 1856 he emigrated to New Zealand, where he worked as Chief Surveyor of the Otago Province until 1873. From 1876 until 1879 he was Surveyor-General of New Zealand. He was also the original surveyor of the city of Invercargill.
From 1856 until 1858 Thomson surveyed and explored large sections of the interior of the South Island, covering most of the southern half of the island.
He was also a amateur painter of landscapes, working mostly in oils. Almost known for the interisting historical topographical viewpoint of his paintings, he was long regarded, wrongly, as a painter of little interest.