The following information is a copy of JK Stokes data on Mount Barker as contained in her Rootsweb (Ancestory.com) Genealogy Website  and has been included here with permission.  No alterations or additions may be made to her information without further permission, although relevant comments and/or additions are welcome to be added at the bottom of each page.  (copied July 2014)

THOMPSON, Theodore Horatio & descendants

Theodore Horatio Thompson was born the illegitimate son of Thirza Thompson at Chatham, Kent in October 1824.  As a young lad, he worked as a farm hand at the village of Luton in Kent, and his mother lived at Chatham where she eventually married William Wedd.  Thirza Thompson was descended from the Thompson, Bellingham and Darby families from the Halesowen area of Shropshire, and her ancestry can be traced back to the early 1600's.

In 1838, for reasons that have evaporated with time, Theodore, his mother and step-father decided to migrate to South Australia.  Thirza and William applied for assisted passage as a married couple, while Theodore, then just 14 years of age, applied in his own right.  The family left Gravesend on 1 August 1838 and arrived in South Australia exactly four months later.

After arrival in the colony, Theodore, along with his mother and step-father went to live at Blakiston, where Mr. Wedd had bought some land.  Theordore worked again as a farm labourer and squirreled away his earnings, saving enough money to by some property in Mt Barker.  He married Johannah Collingridge, daughter of Joseph Collingridge and Betsy Parish, at St James' Church, Blakiston in 1849 and the couple set up their home on the land that Theodore had purchased in Mt Barker.  He was a founding member of the Britannia Lodge of Oddfellows at Mt Barker, and was the last of the founders of this lodge to meet his maker.  Theodore farmed at Mt Barker until his death in 1894, and Johannah lived in the town until she died in 1910.

Theodore and Johannah had 15 children - all born at Mt Barker - Elizabeth, Thirza Cecilia, Caroline Anne, Henry Ambrose, Eleanore, Edwin Henry, twins - Theodore Victor and Theodore Plummer who both only lived a very short time, George Theodore, Charlotte Jane, Alfred Willie, Mary Alice, Edward James, William, and Arthur Charles.

Elizabeth Thompson was born in 1850 at Blakiston.  She married Charles Remnant and had 10 children.  The family moved about a lot with her husband's work and lived at Pt Pirie, Warnertown, and Broken Hill.  Elizabeth ended up moving to WA to live with one of her children after the death of her husband, and is buried over there.

Thirza Cecilia Thompson was born at Blakiston in 1841.  She married Basil George Pearce at Wistow 1873, and had eight children.  Her husband was a railway employee, and his places of work throughout his life coincide with the births of their children.  In 1904, when Thirza was on holiday in Adelaide with her children (according to the newspaper reports - but she was actually at Mt Barker visiting her aged mother), her husband received a telegram - about what, I have never been able to discover - and promptly dropped dead of a heart attack.  Thirza survived another 27 years after Basil died and passed away herself at the home of one of her children in Hindmarsh in 1931.

Caroline Anne Thompson was born at Blakiston in October of 1853 and died there in July of 1854.  She is buried at Blakiston with her father.

Henry Ambrose Thompson was born at Blakiston in February 1856 and died there in March of 8157.  He too is buried at Blakiston with his father.

Edwin Henry Thompson was born at Mt Barker in May 1859.  He married Annie Lacey, the daughter of Edward Lacey of Bugle Ranges, at the Wesleyan Parsonage in Mt Barker in 1882.  They had 8 children - Charles Henry, Annie Grace, Ernest Allan, Rosa May, William Theodore, Elsie Caroline, Bertie Edwin Henry, and Elder, who were all born at Mt Barker, but they didn't all stay in the area.  Known as Harry, he was a builder of some repute and many of the fine stone-fronted homes in the town are his handiwork - in an article in the Mt Barker Courier & River Murray Advocate in July of 1850, the Rev. W. Gray described one of the house he built as being built "out of materials taken from Duncan MacFarlane's old house in the township."  This house still stands, and is on the corner of Stephens Street and Druids Avenue, and once belonged to Mr George Wedd, the brother of Harry's step-grandfather, and father of the late Mrs. Eunice Penny.

The twins, Theodore Victor and Theodore Plummer, didn't survive to adulthood either.  They were born in July 1861 at Blakiston and died there within two days of each other in March the following year.  Both are buried at Blakiston.

George Theodore Thompson was born at Blakiston in January 1863.  He married Anna Emily Thiele, daughter of Johann Gottfried Thiele and Rebecca Simpson, in 1893 at the home of Mrs. H.H. Splaine, aunt of the bride, at Hilton.  The couple made their home at Wistow, and had 4 children - George Walter Henry, Mildred Rebecca, Lillian, and Reginald Thomas Stanley.  George farmed the land at Wistow, and the house in which they lived still stands and is still owned by a family member today, although it is now a bed and breakfast.  George died at Thebarton in 1921 and his widow lived on at Wistow until she passed away in 1963.  Both are buried at Wistow.  These were my great-grandparents, their daughter Mildred married Thomas Frederick Stokes (see Stokes biography for his details).  Their eldest son George passed away in 1923, and Lillian in 1980.  Mildred died in 1982 and the last connection to this generation of my family was severed when their youngest son passed away in 2000.

Charlotte Jane Thompson was born at Blackiston in May 1865.  She married Donald Maclean, a native of Scarp in Scotland, at the Old Scots Church, Adelaide in 1891.  They had 8 children - John Theodore, Donald Archibald, Charlotte Jane, Christina Margaret, Angus Charles, Annie Isabel, Mary Alice and Florence May.  The family moved away from Mt Barker and lived at Canowie, where Donald was a station manager.  Later, they moved to Spalding. Charlotte died at Canowie in 1938.

Alfred Willie Thompson was born at Blakiston in April 1867.  He never married, and was apparently quite a talented artist.  He died at Mt Barker in 1902 and is buried beside his parents at Blakiston.

Mary Alice Thompson was born at Mt Barker in September 1868.  She had an illegitimate daughter, Alice May Thompson, in 1885 at Bugle Ranges.  Her daughter went to live with the Pearce family (Thirza and Basil) where she worked as a maid and helped with their children.  She married Alexander Frederich Staker.  Mary Alice never married, and died in Adelaide in 1890.  She is buried at Blakiston near her father.

Edward James Thompson was born at Mt Barker in November 1870.  He married Lucy Ellen, Eveline Stevens, the daughter of Charles Henry Stevens and Jane Catherine Webb, at Meadows in January 1898.  The family moved to land belonging to Lucy's father at Meadows, and raised their 7 children there - Edward Norman Charles, Mary Evelyn Johanna, Alfred Willie James, Frederick Walter James, Clifford John Webb, Malcolm Ronald, and Fanny.  Edward died at Macclesfield in 1925 and is buried at Wistow.  His wife died at Flaxley in 1931 and is also buried at Wistow.

William Thompson was born at Mt Barker in 1871 and died there in 1872.  He is buried at Blakiston.

Arthur Charles Thompson was born at Mt Barker in 1874.  He married Lilly Bourne Wynnes at the residence of the bride's father, Mr. Charles Wynnes, at Queenstown in April 1908.  They had three children - Marjorie Alison, Harold Horatio, and Margaret Jean.  Arthur and Lilly lived at Hove, and both died there - he in 1950 and she in 1977.

Comments

Note: [202.89.183.185] - ".... she married William Wedd",  "You have forgotten to mention that Thirza married a Mr Hart in Chatham and after he died".