Henry Charles Thomas (1833 - 1883)

Born 1833 in Newquay or Truro, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom [uncertain]

Husband of Mary Ann (Davis) Thomas — married 20 Sep 1857 (to 1860) in St Issell's, Pembrokeshire, Wales

Husband of Sarah Ann (Freeman) Ohm — married 13 Sep 1862 (to 30 Mar 1883) in Nelson, New Zealand

Descendants

Died 30 Mar 1883 at about age 50 in Nelson, New Zealand

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Jeff Thomas [send private message] and Alwyn Friend [send private message]

Henry Thomas migrated from England to New Zealand.

Biography

My Great-great grandfather was inconsistent about his exact birthplace, as some of the NZ public registrations record it as Truro (e,g, death certificate) and others Newquay (e.g his son's birth certificate). From persoanl emails sent to the profile manager, I'm aware several of his descendants are currently working on resolving this by a search of English records. Others are also working on the possibility he may have been transported to Australia in the 1850s, or sailed there as a crewman. Diane Scott nee Vercoe , another descendent, writes in October 2019 ^[1] "I have now proven with Archives UK that he boarded the Golconda as a crewman under the name Thompson. His previous ship, the Maynards, also had him listed as Thompson. I am unable to read from that ships log, his previous ship which is a shame " .What we do know for certain is that he was a crewman on the Golconda, which reached Nelson on Dec 27, 1859, where he later jumped ship. Evidence of his arrival in NZ is contained in reports of his testimony at an inquest shortly thereafter:

CORONER'S INQUEST. Thursday, January 12. A coroner's jury was empanelled at ten o'clock this morning, at the Royal Hotel, Bridge-street, for the purpose of inquiring into the recent death, by drowning, of F. P. le Provost, a boy belonging to the ship Golconda. ..... Henry Thomas, being sworn, said : I am a seaman belonging to the ship Golconda, now lying in Nelson harbour. I knew the deceased ; he was a seaman on board the Golconda : he is now dead. I have seen his body this morning, it is the one which was exhibited to the Coroner and jury. I last saw deceased alive at about a quarter to eight o'clock on the morning of Wednesday the fourth instant. I saw him go over the side of the vessel into one of the ship's boats ; there, was no one with him. I next saw him struggling in the water ; that was about ten minutes after he had left the ship ; it was when I heard the cry " A man over-board !" The boat was still floating, and was between the ship and the shore. Deceased was about fifteen yards from the boat when I saw him. I immediately went to lower the quarter boat, and so did all hands that were near it. While we were lowering the boat deceased sank, and we did not see him rise again. I watched the place where deceased sank for at least ten minutes, that I might see if he rose again, but he did not. ^[2]

It may be that the captain of the Golconda was not happy with the inference of the court testimony and that's why Henry Thomas decided to stay in Nelson.

To Editor of the Colonist —The unhappy occurrence which occurred to one of my hands seems to have attracted more attention than is usual in such cases, and from some person or other originated a report that we on board had neglected our duty. If, sir, you publish the evidence fully, I have no fear as to the opinion the public will now form, I cannot conclude without expressing my astonishment at the conduct of the jury to myself by requesting me to leave the room whilst the examination of the witnesses was going on. I was not aware before that accidental death was to be treated as a criminal case. This deprived me no doubt of giving information with regard to many particulars which might have been mentioned during my absence. I am sir, yours &c, E. MONTGOMERY. Ship Golconda, January 12th, 1860. ^[3]

Indeed the paper on Jan 14th reports the verdict as:  "That the deceased died by accidental drowning, having fallen out of a boat in Nelson Harbor, and that they censure the conduct of Captain Montgomery in not rendering assistance.  The jury recommend the Government to provide drags and hooks at each wharf, and request the Coroner to address his Honor the Superintendent on the subject, and further express an opinion, that had such instruments been at hand this life might have been saved"

It had previously been reported that "four of the hands having already been tempted by the prospects of gold-digging or shepherding to leave their ship." The prospect of more leaving was the reason the captain gave for why the Golconda was moored offshore after it had discharged its passengers in Nelson. The ship Golconda cleared out February 4th for Taranaki, from whence she proceeded homeward by way of China. At some point after the inquest the censured the captain but before the ship sailed away, Henry Thomas made the decision to also stay.

He married Sarah Ann Freeman in 1862 ^[4], the certificate stating his place of birth as Newquay, Cornwall (whereas his death certificate states he hailed from Truro) Sarah had been a passenger on the Golconda so its possible a romance had been sparked on the voyage (despite the age gap) but I suspect its more likely the attraction came later, in the social ties that bound anyone who took the long perilous trip to NZ together. Henry Thomas would have known almost no-one else in Nelson when he jumped ship, other than those passengers.

Henry Thomas worked as a gardener and died in 1883 age 50 when helping a neighbor fell a tree ^[5] See a full report of his death and aftermath in the Colonist, Apr 21 1883:

"A fatal accident occurred in Brook Street last evening. Four men had been at work felling a large willow tree, which was being cut ten feet from the ground. The tree was growing close to the road, and ropes were fixed to prevent an accident. At dusk, the tree being cut through, it was deemed unsafe to leave it. Lanterns were procured, and the tree was brought down. Immediately afterwards a laboring man named Henry Thomas was found lying face down near a branch of the tree, and on the arrival of a doctor the unfortunate man was ascertained to be dead. He was 50 years of age and leaves a wife and nine children. He had been working at the tree since leaving his own work. ^[6]

Apr. 1 - At the inquest on the fatal accident which occurred on Friday night, one witness deposed that he thought there was no danger, but another witness considered it was not felled in a workmanlike manner. The verdict was Henry Thomas was accidentally killed." ^[7]

He is buried at Wakapuaka Cemetery Block BP 01 Plot 154, -- a large stone and concrete tomb for him, his widow Sarah, her 2nd husband OHM, and daughters Frances (died 1872) and Beatrice (1888) who share this plot

A musical and dramatic entertainment in aid of the widow of the late C. H. Thomas is to be given on Friday next, when a number of well known amateurs, both, ladies and gentlemen, have kindly promised their services, and it is hoped that a good programme combined with the charitable object in view' will have the effect of securing a large attendance. We learn from Mr Chapman that as the result of his labors during the three days he has kindly given to the charitable work of collecting subscriptions for the widow of the late C. H. Thomas, he has handed in to Mr Hunter Brown, in addition to the £50 contributed by that gentleman, no less than £54 2a 6d. He intends to collect again on Monday, when he hopes to continue to meet with success. ^[8]

Mr. McCleary and Mr Avery recently undertook a trip into the Waimeas for the purpose of raising subscriptions for the widow of the late C. H. Thomas, and succeeded in collecting £10, which will be handed over this evening to Mr Hunter Brown, the treasurer of the fund. ^[9]

Mr. James Chapman desires us to state that he has handed over to Mr Hunter Brown the sum of £79 4.s 5d as the result of his efforts to obtain subscriptions for Mrs C. H. Thomas. He wishes specially to thank Mrs Beaver of the Prince Albert Hotel for her assistance in distributing the subscription lists, and also a lady for paying him seven shillings for one of his days' work. We understand that the sum of £11 2s has been collected for the same purpose in Riwaka by Miss Jenkins and forwarded by her to Mr Polglase ^[10]

Henery died as a result of an accident in Brook St while felling a tree. Is buried in Whakapuaka Cemetary, Nelson

Sources

1. ↑ personal email to the profile manager
2. ↑ Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XIX, Issue 4, 14 January 1860
3. ↑ The Colonist, Volume III, Issue 233, 13 January 1860
4. ↑ http://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
   • NZ Marriage registration 1862/3972
5. ↑ http://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
   • NZ Death registration 1883/2747
6. ↑ see http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=TC18830421.2.17.1.8&srpos=1&e=01-02-1883-29-12-1883--50-TC-1----2henry+thomas--
7. ↑ Grey River Argus, Volume XXVII, Issue 4556, 2 April 1883, Page 2
8. ↑ Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY, APRIL 7, 1883.
9. ↑ Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 1883.
10. ↑ Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 1883.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Jeff Thomas for starting this profile.

Click the Changes tab for the details of contributions by Jeff and others.

• Researched and found his family, not as he registered his children (Truro or New Quay, Cornwall), but in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales. He was baptised on May 30 1834 in Tenby, Wales.

Henery Thomas (Known as Henry Charles Thomas in New Zealand) must have been a "secretive" person - he told his family when they asked questions about his family "to be careful what you look for as you may not like what you find". I initially thought he must have been to prison but no....... He was a sailor who we can trace sailing out of London under the name of Thompson. His first trip was to South Africia and then 2 trips as crew on "The Golconda", the last arriving in Nelson December 1859. We can now trace Henery in a coronial inquiry in Nelson about a man overboard case in the Nelson Harbour (Macquarie University Law School - Colonial Cases 1860 - 1861 Colonist, 13 January 1860). He was crew under the name Thompson but stood by his captain in the inquiry as Thomas. He did not sail on to Australia when the Golconda left Nelson in January 1860. When he sailed to Nelson, he was only married a short time to Mary Ann Davis/Davies at St Issell's Church, Pembrokeshire, Wales, on Sept 20 1857. William Henry Thomas born was 1858. Henry's family can be found in the 1841 Census at Broadfield, Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales.