T is for Thomas William Thompson, who was my great, great grandfather. Thomas was born 5 December 1888 in Warwick, Queensland to parents William Henry Thompson and Sarah White (see my ‘S’ post for more on Sarah). The first few years of his life were lived in Queensland, where a younger sister was born and died. By 1894, Thomas was living with his family in Bingara, NSW. It was here that his father died in 1896, when Thomas was eight years old.

The records don’t tell us how long the family stayed in Bingara or if Thomas stayed with them but by 1911, Thomas was living in Lismore NSW. It was here that Thomas met and married Hannah Maria Darch Mallet on 23 December 1911. Thomas and his wife settled down in the Lismore district and raised a family of nine children, all living to adulthood. Included in these nine children was his wife’s illegitimate child from before their marriage, whom Thomas raised as his own.

Sadly, Hannah died in 1929 at the age of 36 after 17 years of marriage. Thomas was left to finish raising his children alone. As was the customer, the eldest girl of the household was left to run the house and look after the children. This fell to his daughter Jean, who was aged only 12 years old at the time. Thomas was a kind man though, with Jean recalling him coming home one day to find her in tears and unable to cope with the situation. Thomas promptly hired a housekeeper. This housekeeper stayed on for some years, with Thomas later marrying her. Further evidence of his kindness can be seen in his raising of his grandson, whom his daughter Jean had given birth to at 15. Most children in this situation would have been adopted out, but Jean’s child was raised by his family.

Thomas remained in the Lismore area for the rest of his life, passing away in 1956  at the age of 68 years.