 His written works include "Comparative Vocabulary of the Indian Tribes of British Columbia" (1884), and his journals, published in 1963 as "The Journals of William Fraser Tolmie".At the age of 20, having spent 3 years attending medical classes at the University of Glasgow, Tolmie qualified as a Licentiate of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, after which he joined the Hudson's Bay Company and soon sailed for the Pacific Northwest.In the spring of 1833 he arrived at Fort Vancouver.