This picture, provided by Stephen HART, shows our ancestor William Martin THOMSON.[1] WMT was born on 10 May 1825[2] in Edinburgh, where he lived and worked in Carnegie Street. He came to Australia in the early 1850s, perhaps as a crew member who jumped ship to join the Gold Rush.[3]
WMT travelled first to Turon near Bathurst NSW, then Beechworth VIC, where in 1865 he married (at the age of 40, although the marriage certificate says 30) Maria Matilda Foxwell BLACKWELL. Maria was very young (born 17 June 1851 in Sydney or Brisbane AUS).[2]
They moved from Beechworth to Balmain NSW where WMT worked at Mort's Dock. While there, he heard about a shipfitting operation of Burns Philp's in the Ballina area.[3] The family moved to Breckenridge Sawmill, Wyrallah NSW, and later retired to Cathcart Street in Lismore NSW.[2]
According to WMT's death certificate, he died on 31 March 1911 of shock and old age from burns accidentally received. He had spent 20 years in VIC and 40 in NSW. According to Richard Thomson DIXON, WMT's death was caused by his little dog, which jumped up on him while he was smoking his pipe and set his beard alight.
Maria Matilda Foxwell THOMSON née BLACKWELL died in 1932. She was a pillar of the Presbyterian Church in Lismore, and there may be a memorial to her there.
This picture was also provided by Stephen HART. Both my father and Mrs Heather TOPFER neé SOMERVILLE consider that the woman in black on the right could be "Grandma Thomson" (Maria Matilda Foxwell BLACKWELL). Thanks to Heather TOPFER, I've now established that the woman in black on the left is "Grandma Topfer" (Minnie THOMSON). Heather has a photograph of her late husband George's whole family, taken when he was small, and the mother, Minnie, appears much as she does here. The girls may be her daughters.
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Page created 29 March 1999; last updated 30 May 1999