Person:Thomas Naughton (2)

He changed his name from McNAUGHTON.

Following the death of his parents, Thomas Stephen was taken by a Monastery where he received an excellent education to the point of being ordained as a Jesuit priest. However, he had other ideas and worked `before the mast' on a ship to Wallaroo, South Australia. He became an accountant to the Wallaroo Mines and Secretary to Captain Hancock, who presented his wife Polly with a beautiful chiffonier made of local timber (cedar) (it is currently (as of 1999) owned by Doris THIEM).

Due to the large number of children missing school in 1879, Thomas was appointed as School Visitor, or Truant Officer by the Government at a salary of \pounds 3 per week. He was known by the local Cornish people as the `Minchy-Man', minch meaning `playing truant' in their native dialogue. He was a very even tempered and well mannered gentleman who's job was to make visits to the homes of the children to find out the reason behind their truancy. If there was a good excuse, than that was fair and he took no further action, but if it was the fault of the parents, then he made sure that they paid a visit to the local Court House. He would tell many a story of the excuses used by mothers for their child not being as school.

Thomas did such a thorough job that he did himself out of work. He transferred through the Education Department to Adelaide as a Truant Inspector, and the family moved to Military Road, Largs Bay, South Australia.

The following is a letter that Thomas wrote to his daughter Lillie in South Africa in 1915. Written during the First World War, the first few paragraphs are chit-chat, and then he talks about the German Empire...

\begin{quotation} \makebox[2.5in][r]{Military Road}\\ \makebox[2.5in][r]{Largs. S. Aus:}\\ \makebox[2.5in][r]{28th September 1915.}\\ My dear Lill\\ \vspace{2mm} My scribbles are I am thinking very much like angel's visits, in as much that they are few and far between. \\ I do not know that I would write you now were it not to wish you many happy returns of the day, I need not be like Paddy and say ``May your shadow never grow less as according to your statement it is much more extensive than it was when you left here.\\

It is really very difficult to write you, what with all hands writing and giving you all the news \& gossip that would interest you, there is nothing for me to write about, mine would be all men's talk and would not be of any interest to you.\\

The 1000 voice concert comes off next Thursday \& Sat. We have a large percentage of our teachers for the front.\\

The place is quite lively at times with the marching of the ``Boys in Khaki to the Outer Harbor to embark for Gallipoli, others from their training camps, and a large number of wounded men. Our losses have been very heavy, also the disabled. Many of my school boys will leave their bodies in Turkey \& many are crippled for life.\\

I would like to have about a thousand of the leading men of the German Empire (especially if they are Prussians) placed before machine guns or asphysciating gas and wiped out \& put the Kaiser at their head to lead them on to Hell -- they had no mercy on the Belgians nor upon their own people who were led on to be slaughtered to satisfy their lust of power.\\

All our own people at our last hearing were quite well. We expect Maurice across on Sunday and Gussie on Wednesday next.\\

Don't forget to trot Herbert about all you can so as to keep down his fat.\\ Mother, Chriss \& I join in love and good wishes to Herbert and yourself and trust this will find you in good time.\\

\makebox[1in][l]{I am}\\ \makebox[1.5in][l]{your affectionate}\\ \makebox[2in][l]{Dad}\\ \end{quotation}

1. ↑ Correspondence with Maurice Stephen Thiem and Dorothy (Davidson).
2. ↑ Newspaper records
   1916.
3. ↑ SA Births, Deaths and Marriages.

   Marriage Register, at Kadina to Mary Ann Emma CROFT on 26-Sep-1872, District of Daly, Book 92, Page 679

4. ↑ Newspaper records.

   Newspaper records of his daughter Norah Mabel's marriage to
   Walter Edward THIEM.

5. ↑ Newspaper records.
6. ↑ .

   Newspaper records of his death kept by Maurice Stephen THIEM.

7. ↑ Died at his residence aged 68 years.
8. ↑ Calculated from Marriage Register