103 Years Old ~ X2 Great Aunt Mary Thomson

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2023: Week 40 (LONGEVITY)

My paternal grandmother was named after her aunt,
Mary Thomson, who lived to 103 years old. 

In the photo below is my grandfather (Thomas Thomson) on the left, Mary in the middle, and brother James Devlin Glass on the right.

Mary never married, and had no children. 

According to the stories my grandmother told me, about the aunt she was named after, Mary was very connected to her siblings.
Looking at the photo above I definitely got the sense they were close. 

On her 100th birthday she received a letter from the Queen. 

The photo above was taken on her 100th birthday. 

That's her brother, Henry who was 96 years old, with her. 

They were the last 2 surviving children of Thomas & Isabella (nee Glass) Thomson. 

Henry died less than a year later. 

Mary lived for 3 more years.

She was the oldest of 8 children, and outlived them all. 

Mary's family

Father:
Thomas Thomson
BIRTH ABT. 1849 • Buckhaven, East Wemyss, Fife, Scotland
DEATH 22 FEB 1919 • Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland

Mother:
Isabella Glass
BIRTH ABT. 1849 • North Berwick, East Lothian, Scotland
DEATH 29 JUL 1943 • Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh, Scotland

Their 8 children (1911 census confirms they had 8 children and all were still living):

Mary Thomson, lived to 103 years
BIRTH 28 NOV 1870 • North Berwick, East Lothian, Scotland
DEATH 16 DEC 1973 • Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland
Never married, no children

Isabella (Bella) Thomson, lived to 77 years
BIRTH 6 JUN 1872 • North Berwick, Haddingtonshire, Scotland
DEATH 5 MAY 1950 • Deaconess Hospital, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland
married: William Haughie, had 3 children (I have found records for)

Henry Thomson, lived to 97 years
BIRTH 19 JAN 1874 • North Berwick, East Lothian, Scotland
DEATH 8 AUG 1971 • Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland
married: Bessie, had 1 child (I have found records for)

Agnes Thomson, lived to 80 years
BIRTH 07 MAR 1876 • North Berwick, East Lothian, Scotland
DEATH 30 JUL 1956 • 205 Berea Street, Pretoria, Eastern Cape, South Africa
married: Herbert William Smith, had 2 children (1911 census notes 2 children with both living, no records for other children have been found)

Thomas Thomson, lived to 60 years
BIRTH 10 MAY 1880 • North Berwick, East Lothian, Scotland
DEATH 19 NOV 1940 • Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada
married: Elizabeth Young Slicer. had 3 children (2 lived to adulthood)
My great grandparents

James Devlin Glass Thomson, lived to 80 years
BIRTH 26 SEP 1883 • North Berwick, East Lothian, Scotland
DEATH 31 AUG 1966 • Raumati Beach, Kapiti Coast, Wellington, New Zealand
married: Elsie Winifred Genge, had 6 children

Laura Edward Thomson, age at death is not known at this time
BIRTH 14 FEB 1887 • North Berwick, East Lothian, Scotland
DEATH AFT. 1940 (was listed as a survivor in brother Thomas' obit)
married: John Cleghorn (Cleghorn) Robertson, no records for children found

Richard Alexander Thomson, age at death is not known at this time
BIRTH 12 JUL 1892 • Tynemouth, Northumberland, England
DEATH BEF. 1940 (not listed as a survivor in brother Thomas' obit)
One Ancestry tree says he died of the Spanish Flu Epidemic 1918-1920

When you have family members who live to over 100 years old!!! 

This is why I search - 

Cause ... 

You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!

***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***

Sources:

Family stories

Photos:

Personal

Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/52-ancestors-in-52-weeks/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

______________________________________________________________

Family Search's Timeline ~ Thomas Thomson

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2022: Week 34 (TIMELINE)

In considering the prompt TIMELINE I remembered seeing a timeline clickable tab on Family Search. 

Family Search is a fantastic FREE source of documents and records. 

This is my X2 great grandfather's timeline from Family Search. 

THOMAS THOMSON

The details become pretty obvious when you follow the timeline. 

Thomas & Isabella's first child (Mary who lived to 103 years old) was born 4 months after their marriage.

I have observed these 'premature' babies many times while looking at historical records.

Realizing that what happened in the past is no different than today!!!

This is why I search - 

Cause ... 

You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!

***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***

Sources:

Thomson, Thomas. Map & Timeline photos. Clipped from Family Search. Retrieved August 22nd 2022 from 
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/G7LR-JYZ

Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/52-ancestors-in-52-weeks/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

______________________________________________________________

Oops: Too Young for the Boer War ~ Thomas Thomson

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2020 Week 49 (OOPS)

I remember Grandma telling me how her dad had signed up to go to the Boer War when he was underage. His mother (my X2 great grandmother, Isabella (nee Glass) Thomson) marched down to the local Army office and demanded he be sent home since he was not actually old enough to be there. 

Oops.

I asked dad if he remembered the story grandma told since I was looking for more details to write about.

Dad's recollections: "The only part of the story of my grandfather's involvement in the Boer war was that he joined the British Army by saying he was older than his 16 years when he joined and went to South Africa. When his mother found out she went to the Army and got him sent home. I don’t know when he went but he was 16 in 1896 as he was born in 1880. That’s all I know, don’t know if he actually got into action or not."

Definitely an Oops for the British Army since they had to send Great Grandpa back home. Definitely an Ooops for 16 year old Thomas who would have been in trouble with the British Army as they were sending him home & his parents when he got there. I would have loved to be witness to the conversations in South Africa & at home.

Realizing how very little I knew about the Boer War I began researching.

Oops. 

The Boer War took place October 11th 1899 to May 31st 1902. 

16 year old Thomas couldn't have been there in 1896. 

Maybe he signed up for the Anglo-Zanzibar War that happened August 27th 1896 which fits nicely into the expected dates. 

Or maybe it was the Battle of Ferkeh that took place June 6th 1896. 

Maybe there were other 1896 events the British Military was involved in.

I was feeling pretty confused at this point in my research.

Grandma and dad were pretty confident he went to South Africa for the Boer War. 

In genealogy research it's very common to hear family lore that doesn't pan out after being scrutinized. 

I knew there was a good possibility that the details were wrong, but Dad is retired career military & rarely does he get military facts wrong.

With that in mind I began searching with very specific terms - Boer War 1896. 

I was not finding anything that looked promising.....

BUT WAIT - Had I given up too quickly I wouldn't have found this nugget. 

British Troops Leave For Boer War (1896-1899)   1

The discovery of this footage from British Pathé suggests the family tale is accurate. 

The British Military began forming their troops in 1896 for the Boer War (also known as: Second Boer War, Anglo-Boer War, or South African War).  I watched the short clip, and couldn't see great grandpa Thomas Thomson among the men. I do not have a photo of Great Grandpa Thomas Thomson at the age of 16 so am unsure I would recognize him if he were there, but I would like to believe he's there. 

These are the different stages of life that I have photos of Great Grandpa, Thomas Thomson:

Photo believed to be young Thomas Thomson

Thomas with sister Mary Thomson and brother James Devlin Glass Thomson

Thomas with brother-in-law Dave Slicer

Thomas with daughters: Marion & Mary (my grandma)

Thomas with his bagpipes

This family tale - CONFIRMED!

When family lore proves to be correct!







This is why I search - 



Cause ... 





You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!
















***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***









Footnotes:

1 British Troops Leave For Boer War (1896-1899), British Pathé,  Retrieved November 30th 2020 from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyiqSW1ZLmU






Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

___________________________________________________________