Person:Thomas Thomson (8)

MR T.E.THOMSON

                                         Died 13 Apr 1942

The death of Mr. Thomas Edward occurred suddenly at his residence, Osborne Terrace, North Beach, yesterday morning. Mr Thomson was a member of a well-known Christchurch family, his father being one of the city's oldest pastrycooks. He was also the first managing director of the Christchurch Tramway Company. Mr. T.E.Thomson, after being in business in Christchurch for some years, started business at North Beach 21 years ago. He was elected to the New Brighton Borough Council in 1933 and remained a member until the amalgamation with the city in 1941. During most of this time he was chairman of the lighting committee. He was one of the foundation members of the North Beach Surf Club, a member of the New Brighton Trotting Club, the Owners' and Breeders' Association, the Beckenham Bowling Club and the New Brighton Beautifying Association. For some years he was an active member of the North Beach Progress League and Beautifying Association. As a result of the interest taken by Mrs. Thomson and himself in the formation of garden plots and the reserve in Rawhiti Domain. The place was named Thomson Park. Mr Thomson was chairman of the North Beach Residents Club for Patriotic Activities.

Hello Richard,

                  Thanks for your reply but I can't open the attachments!  I have this trouble from time to time and need my knowledgeable son, Simon, to sort it out for me.  He's a pretty busy fellow with five children and a demanding job, but he did give me a voucher for mother's day promising 2 hours overhaul of my computer, still to come.

Thomson Park is named after my husband Jack's grandfather, Thomas Edward THOMSON, William's son. He had the grocery shop as you mentioned and at the back of the shop facing the park you can still see the sign, THOMSON'S REAL ICE CREAM. He bought the main ingredient to make the icecream from an American company and it was extremely popular. Crowds would come from the city by tram to the beach on the weekends and have a Thomson's ice cream. Jack and his brother and sister, Ted and Audrey were able to scrape out the churn. I can imagine them head first into it. They had a wonderful childhood at North Beach with Grandparents living next door to them and all the goodies at the shop which they had free access to, (during depression times too). Jack still has a sweet tooth! He was a very kind man and was known as a soft touch. When people got behind with their grocery bills with little hope of paying, he would say to them "Let's wipe the slate and start again." When he died in 1942, Jack's Dad found a pile of unpaid bills from years back. He was very community minded and was on the New Brighton Borough Council, and during the war was area President of the Patriotic Fund which sent parcels to the local boys overseas. He and his wife, Matilda CORNISH cared for the park, planted trees and flowers and therefore it was decided to name the park after him. We attended a planting bee last year and Simon and his family were there too. A reporter from the Press interviewed the three generations, Jack, Simon and his son Matthew and an article and photo was in the newspaper. He was not so popular with his Father, William, because even though he was trained as a baker, he opted out of the family business in the city and became a wood and coal merchant. After that, he opened a grocery business in the Ozone building, North Beach but after a fire in the building he crossed the road to an empty shop and the local people came and helped him move all his goods. He had two sons, Thomas William b 1898 and Leonard Phillip b 1900. Tom was a carpenter and Len an electrician who went to Australia to work on the electric railways and then to Argentina to work for Du Pont rayon factory and became quite wealthy. He retired to NZ and bought the CocaCola/Fanta franchise for the Wellington area. When his father died in 1909, he made no mention of Thomas Edward in his will but left everything to those of his family who worked in the business. However. when Christina died in 1925 she left him 100 pounds. William and Christina had a big home in the central city, Cambridge Terrace beside the Avon river. Jack remembers as a little boy, going with his Grandma (Matilda) to the house and being greeted by one of the Thomas Edward's sisters, probably Elizabeth, but they stood on the doorstep and were not invited in. That would have been the last attempt to re-unite the family. Their youngest child, Alan James Caroll Thomson, said to have been adopted by William and Christina is almost certain to be Elizabeth's illegitimate son as she is listed as his next of kin on his first world war records. I hope all this info is interesting to you and if you would like details I will send them to you.

I would be interested in hearing about your line too.

Thanks again, and I'm eagerly looking forward to being able to read your attachments.

                    Regards, Helen

1. ↑ IGI.
2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Canterbury Library Index Cards.
3. ↑ Will and Probate
   CH56718.
4. ↑ History of New Brighton Book
   canty library.