THE first of the Thompson family to arrive in Port Stephens was Henry, an interesting man shrouded in some degree of mystery.
It is recorded that Henry was born onboard a ship off Norway in the North Sea in 1839.
Other records show that he was born on a ship in the Thames River sometime between 1839 and 1844.
From family records Henry stated that he arrived in Australia in 1861 on board the ship “Boston”.
Records of the “Boston” have not been found.
Other research states that in 1869, a lone seaman on board a Norwegian sailing ship jumped off the deck onto the wharf at Stockton and ran from the authorities.
The illegal immigrant changed his name and became Captain Henry Thompson.
Whatever the facts, Henry Thompson made significant contributions to the growth and development of the local area.
His many occupations were listed as sail maker, fisherman, builder, farmer, hotel owner and oyster grower.
Henry married Sarah Knight from Port Macquarie and the couple had four children, the youngest being Thomas Henry Thompson, who was born in 1876.
Henry later married his second wife, widow Mary Ann “Polly” Diemar (nee Lilley), who arrived in the country onboard the “Cuzco” with her three children.
Henry and Polly had one child, Samuel, born in 1880.
After owning and operating the Sea Breeze Hotel in Nelson Bay from 1894 to 1899, Henry Snr faced financial difficulties and moved on.
It was young son Thomas from his first marriage, also known as “Henry”, who moved into fishing and oyster farming with Ernie and Charlie Diemar in Big Swan Bay and Oyster Cove.
Thomas ‘Henry’ married Jessie Ann Jenkins in 1899 and the couple had three girls (Stephena, Dorothy, Sadie) and a boy, John Leonard (born 1909), who became known as “Jack” Thompson.
On a trip north to Rainbow Reach, Jerseyville on the Macleay River, to gather black mangrove sticks on which to grow oysters in Big Swan Bay, Jack met Daphne Sheppard, sister of Tim Sheppard, who worked in the post office in Kempsey. Jack and Daph married and began working a dairy farm in Rainbow Reach.
They remained in the Kempsey region until Jack’s father was beginning to struggle with the oyster business in Tilligerry Creek, at which time they moved to Marsh Road to support him.
Although having no children of their own, Jack and Daph were very loving and caring of their nieces and nephews, one of which was Tim’s son, young Barry Sheppard.
Meanwhile, Samuel “Sam” Thompson, Jack’s step-uncle, had decided to go fishing and sell his interests, home and oyster leases in Tilligerry Creek.
Jack, Daph and Jack’s father Thomas moved into the house over the water.
Sam and his son Archie had built a trawler, “Dawn”, among the mangroves off Marsh Road leaving the oyster farm to go trawling.
It was at this stage that the house over the water was offered to Jack who purchased it.
Later Jack was to build the family home, with a garage out the back, on the other side of Marsh Road, opposite the house on the water.
The house still stands, however it was impacted by a fire in 1956.
When help arrived, the shed was well and truly on fire with a truck parked close by.
The heat was so great that the power pole alongside the shed caught on fire, which had the potential to cause great danger.
Jack Thompson was so frantic in his attempts to control the fire that he was overcome with fumes and smoke which is thought to have led to his death six months later.
The volunteers saved the badly blistered truck by pushing it back away from the flames.
The house was saved because there were so many locals throwing water.
Following Jack’s death in 1957, at the age of 47 years, Harold Diemar managed the oysters until Jack’s brother-in-law Tim Sheppard left the Post Office in Kempsey to take over the running of the business.
Eventually the Sheppards bought the business off Daph and set up on Marsh Road.
Daph moved into Nelson Bay.
It is interesting to note that adjacent to the shed, where Sheppards’ oysters was established, was originally a shed for storing timber for Frost Bros Furniture based in Stockton.
The timber, which included a lot of paperbark, was brought down the creek from as far up as Bulahdelah.
Frosts built the shed and dug the waterway that branched off the main creek to the shed.
By John ‘Stinker’ CLARKE
