Thompson / Corporaal Family History

William Thomas Denis Thompson ²

   Cause of his death was Senile Decay.

   Another name for William was William Denison Townsend Thompson.⁶

  General Notes:

William is recorded on his marriage documents as a miner in the Thames District of New Zealand aged 29. The goldfields here opened in 1867. William, his wife and 4 children moved to Hillgrove, NSW in about 1878. [In fact they left mid to late 1879 after Minnie was born (May 22, 1879)] Gold mining started there in the late 1870's. Then he, his wife and 10 children moved to Kalgoorlie, WA in about 1900.
Williams death certificate states 19 years [calculated as 1900-1919] in Western Australia & 22 years [calculated as 1878-1900] in NSW. [Conflicts with Wm. H. Thompson death certificate.]

There is conflicting information regarding William's middle names. On his death certificate he is named William Thomas De... Thompson [121112]. His second middle name is obscured by an ink blot. His entry in the grave register is William Thomas Dennis Thompson [150311]. An entry in one of the Electoral Rolls had the name William Dennison T. Thompson, the 'T' is possibly for Townsend and appears as such on William Henry Thompson's birth record. On Eugene Percival's death certificate he appears as William Denison TOWNLEY Thompson [150310]. ⁵

  Burial Notes:

LOT 322

  Some of his life's milestones were:

There is conflicting information of birth dates. William's death certificate notes his age as 79, this would make his date of birth 1840. ⁵

He has conflicting death information of Aug 23, 1919 and Boulder, Western Australia, Australia. ⁷

He was working as a miner in Shortland District, New Zealand in 1871 ⁸ Shortland was later known as the Thames District. It is believed he was working on or near the Eureka claim (ref. birth certificates for Louisa, William Henry & Minnie cite the birth location as Eureka, Thames District New Zealand). This claim was located between Thames & Tararu on the southern slope above Kuranui Creek near the creek's headwater. Eureka had the Teutonic claim to the west, Deep Lead to the south and Moanataiari Gold Mining Co. to the east. (ref. NZ Map 4531 - 1868 Mining Illustrated Map from the Auckland City Library).
There are many tantalising records relating to William Thompson in the period 1868 - 1880 however none thus far can be connected to William Thomas Denis Thompson with any certainty. For example, the electoral rolls from 1875 to 1878 have a William Thompson at Moanataiari Creek.

Also, there are a number of "Miners Rights" in the name of William Thompson from 1868 to 1872 in the Karaka field. "Miners Rights" were a government licence that permitted a prospector to peg out a 300 ft. x 50 ft. claim. This licence had to be renewed each year. Interestingly there are also Miners Rights for David, William & Samuel Deery from 1867 to 1869. These boys became William's brothers-in-law.

From attachment to Althea Barker email (ajbthames@xtra.co.nz) August 14, 2015. [Extracted from "Gold-mines of the Hauraki District" by J F Downey, Published 1935]

"Eureka Claim - This claim adjoined the Kuranui to the eastward. Not much information is at hand regarding its early history, but it was worked by individual owners, or a small company, from 1868 to 1875, during which time 1,653 tons of quartz from it for a yield of 5,750 oz. bullion, valued at £13,798. This output clearly came from small leaders or veins near the surface and close to the Moanatairi slide. The leaders evidently did not live, or carry their values, to any depth, for no active underground mining was done on the claim after 1875. Between 1888 & 1895. however, the Moanataiari Co., which had taken the ground over, mined a very considerable tonnage of the stockwork from the surface of it, ,making the total output from the claim 39,942 tons, which yielded 7,577 oz. bullion, valued at £18,641."

William was living at Monatiari Creek Thames, Waikato, New Zealand in 1876 ⁹ This is a possible entry for Wm. T. D. Thompson but as middle names were not used it is not certain.

He immigrated from New Zealand to Hillgrove, New South Wales, Australia between 1879 and 1881 ⁵ [The dates calculated from death certificates Wm. T. D., Wm. Henry & Mary Josephine Thompson plus the birth of Minnie.]

He was working as a miner in Hillgrove, New South Wales, Australia from 1881 to 1898 Hillgrove, 30 km east of Armidale became the town that developed around the gold mines in the gorges of the eastern escarpment of the New England Tableland. Gold was first discovered in 1881 and the Elanora Mine was established. In 1887 a rich lode was found in the bottom of the 180m (600 ft.) deep Bakers Creek Gorge & the Baker's Creek Goldmining Company was formed. The first returns from the mine were impressive at 51 ounces to the tonne, and within a short time the company had pulled £2,500 worth of gold from the ground. News of the success brought 1,500 people to the field in 1888 and their numbers doubled in the following year. By the end of the 19^th century the mines were in decline and finally closed by 1920.

Hillgrove's other claim to fame; it was the first municipality to have street lighting powered by hydro-electric power. (ref. The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA), Saturday 10 February 1894 "Hillgrove Water-power and Electric Company").

He immigrated from New South Wales to Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, Australia between 1898 and 1900 ¹⁰ [The dates are calculated from death certificates Wm. T. D., Wm. Henry & Mary Josephine Thompson.]
Stephen Ranson [grandson of Eugene Percival Thompson] tells the story of the move to Western Australia. Apparently Wm. Thomas & Wm. Henry purchased bicyles in Melbourne, Vic. and rode to Kalgoorlie WA. The rest of the family followed later by ship, presumably from Sydney NSW. to Esperance WA. then overland to Kalgoorlie.

William was living at 108 Davis St Boulder City, Western Australia, Australia in 1906 ¹¹

He was working as a Miner in Kalgoorlie/Boulder, Western Australia, Australia from 1906 to 1916

William was living at "Hillgrove" 31 Davis St Boulder City, Western Australia, Australia in From 1910 to 1916 ¹² The house was named for the mining town in northern New South Wales where the family lived previously.

He was working as a Prospector in Kalgoorlie/Boulder, Western Australia, Australia on Nov 4, 1914 ¹³

He was buried in Boulder Cemetery on Aug 24, 1919 in Boulder City, Western Australia, Australia. ⁵ Record No. 3107, Church of England section R, Grave No. 675, Ref No. 2.5£

"Eureka": 1877, Thames, Waikato, New Zealand

For a long time Eureka as a location eluded me. William Henry Thompson birth record has him born in Eureka but it does not appear on any map. In August of 2015 I was in contact with Althea Barker, a historian in Thames NZ. She was able to point out a goldmining claim called "Eureka". From this assumptions were made that Wm. D. T. Thompson was a part owner of the claim. The email below provides another perspective on Eureka.
Richard (Dick) Wilkins
April 25, 2019.
Hi Robert,
I came across your research on William Thompson and thought that I might be able to add a little more background information.
My Great Grandfather Richard Ross lived on Eureka Hill from 1867 until his death in 1935. It is easiest if I refer you to these articles I wrote. He obviously would have known William.
It is a bit hard to fathom out who resided in this area before 1883 and where (official records have been lost and William had left by the time of the earliest Valuation Roll I have been able for find --1883).
He would have lived on a Residence Site which in the early days was quite small (first ones were 1/20th acre, increased later to 1/4 of an acre). What makes the actual location difficult to establish is that "Eureka" is a loose term - Richard Ross in later years always referred to himself as living on Eureka Hill, but he actually lived in a hollow at the top of the Kuranui stream that was originally called Eureka Flat - largely on the Teutonic Claim (just to confuse things, this area was also called Kuranui Hill) - immediately to the south there is a gentle rise to a ridge which is Eureka Hill proper (on the Eureka Gold Claim) and further to the south is the Moanataiari Claim - some people on Eureka Hill also could be classified as living in the "Moanataiari" depending on who was doing the classifying!!!! And some were just described as residing on "Eureka" - the terms being used somewhat interchangeably at different times.
I will keep an eye open for any info I come across on the Thompsons
Regards
Dick Wilkins

William married Mary Josephine Deery, daughter of Henry Deery and Catherine Curtin, on Jan 29, 1871 in Parnell, Auckland, New Zealand.¹ (Mary Josephine Deery was born in 1854 in Auckland, Waikato, New Zealand,¹⁴ died on May 13, 1920 in Boulder City, Western Australia, Australia ¹⁵ and was buried on May 14, 1920 in Boulder City, Western Australia, Australia.). The cause of her death was Chronic Hepatitus & Pneumonia/Uraemic convulsions [Kidney failure].

  Special events in their marriage were:

There is a story told by Steven Ranson that had been told to him by his grandfather Eugene Percival Thompson:
"William was living in a house that was half buried in the side of a hill such that the chimney from the fire came out of the ground. In order to meet William, Mary Josephine apparently climbed the hill and poured water down the chimney. This doused the fire & forced William to come out to investigate."

They had their marriage banns published on Jan 28, 1871 in Parnell, Auckland, New Zealand. ¹⁶
William Thompson, Bachelor, Miner, 29y, Res 3 Days but "usually at Shortland - Auckland"
Mary Josephine Deery, Spinster, Dressmaker, 19y, Res Parnell 19y
Consent by Henry Deery father
Notice/certificate 28 January 1871 (marriage could be later)
In St John the Baptist Church Parnell by Very Rev Dominic Gallosi

They were married in St. John the Baptist Church, Jan 29, 1871, Parnell, Auckland, New Zealand. ¹⁷ By The Very Reverand Dominic Gallosi