James Turnbull Thomson (1810 – c. 20 August 1876) was a publican and brewer, recognised as the founder of Balhannah, South Australia.
[3] In 1840 Thomson was involved with Robert Cock and J. L. Crabb in a venture to sell lots of land in Balhannah, which Thomson named for his mother (and also his sister) Hannah, the prefix Bal being a Gaelic word meaning "place" or "town", as in Balnagowan and Balmoral.
[3] He brewed his first beer at Balhannah in August 1843 with the assistance of W. Milne and W. Johnston, one of the brothers who later founded the Oakbank Brewery.
[7] He was several times in financial difficulties, on one occasion helped out by his father, who purchased his property, then mortgaged it to pay a debt to Alexander Cock.
He never married and appeared to have no relations in South Australia, though one John Thomson (1794–1869), later of "Lilybank", Mount Pleasant, and family are known to have stayed in the Balhannah region during their first years in the colony.