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Thomas Thompson junior (1841-1918)
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DetailsPhotograph of Thomas Thompson (1841 - 1918) son of Thomas and Hannah Thompson of New Line Road West Pennant Hills, married Hannah the daughter of Richard Worthing in 1860, builder of the store at Thompson's Corner in 1890 and the adjoining bakery in Castle Hill Road in 1891.
Thomas Thompson jnr was the ninth and second-last child of Hannah and Thomas and was aged 36 when he purchased Sanday's store. Thomas found the old store was 'a tumble-down, weatherboard building' which he added to, but an enduring family story tells that the old shop was burnt down, whether by accident or design is not known. In 1890 he replaced it with a large, two-storied brick building with a slate roof, the residence on the upper level having fine cast-iron verandah trims. The shop was double-fronted and stocked a wide variety of household goods, patent medicines and drapery lines. Because he had to rise early each day to purchase his bread in Parramatta, Thomas built a small bakehouse adjacent to the store and began baking for the district, 400 loaves a night at first with the number rising to 900 or even 1100 loaves before he retired. His son Ernest became chief baker while the other sons ran delivery carts over a wide area - 'four miles to the south and 14 miles to the north' - delivering the bread and any other goods which had been ordered.
The work was hard and early in his days at the store Thomas found he had a loss of £100 in one month after working 16 hours a day. However, in 1890 he was able to make a personal loan of £300 to the Wesleyan Church to help pay for the large new brick church which had been erected the previous year. Many other members made donations of two pounds; these were men who owned large orchards but had little cash. In 1897 Thomas, his health debilitated by two accidents, sold the property and business to Richard Stear, who had been a baker in Gulgong. The remarkable aspect of this sale was the price: Thompson received £2500, for the property from Stear which 20 years earlier he had paid £175 for, though without the large brick building on it. In 1925 when Stear sold the property to Mary Green he received £1375 for it. Stear worked as shopkeeper for about a year before leasing it in succession to Alcock, Major George Morris and James Arnot from 1903 to 1911. At that time the bakery closed and the business struggled against the competition from the stores at Pennant Hills Station.
Although only twenty years as a shopkeeper there, Thomas Thompson found his name had become attached to the locality and it is still today known as Thompsons Corner.
There is a reference to Thompson's Corner in the Town and Country Journal of 3 March 1888 p.44 in an article entitled 'On the Pennant Hills Road' which read: 'On the high ridge along which the Parramatta road runs, and at the junction of the road going to the Pennant Hills station is a little hamlet rejoicing in this style and title of Thompson's Corner. Around this pretty focus are gathered many fine orchards.'
Information provided by Patricia Dewey in 'They lived along Pennant Hills Road' (2020) p.142
LocationWest Pennant HillsThompsonWest Pennant Hills
Thomas Thompson jnr was the ninth and second-last child of Hannah and Thomas and was aged 36 when he purchased Sanday's store. Thomas found the old store was 'a tumble-down, weatherboard building' which he added to, but an enduring family story tells that the old shop was burnt down, whether by accident or design is not known. In 1890 he replaced it with a large, two-storied brick building with a slate roof, the residence on the upper level having fine cast-iron verandah trims. The shop was double-fronted and stocked a wide variety of household goods, patent medicines and drapery lines. Because he had to rise early each day to purchase his bread in Parramatta, Thomas built a small bakehouse adjacent to the store and began baking for the district, 400 loaves a night at first with the number rising to 900 or even 1100 loaves before he retired. His son Ernest became chief baker while the other sons ran delivery carts over a wide area - 'four miles to the south and 14 miles to the north' - delivering the bread and any other goods which had been ordered.
The work was hard and early in his days at the store Thomas found he had a loss of £100 in one month after working 16 hours a day. However, in 1890 he was able to make a personal loan of £300 to the Wesleyan Church to help pay for the large new brick church which had been erected the previous year. Many other members made donations of two pounds; these were men who owned large orchards but had little cash. In 1897 Thomas, his health debilitated by two accidents, sold the property and business to Richard Stear, who had been a baker in Gulgong. The remarkable aspect of this sale was the price: Thompson received £2500, for the property from Stear which 20 years earlier he had paid £175 for, though without the large brick building on it. In 1925 when Stear sold the property to Mary Green he received £1375 for it. Stear worked as shopkeeper for about a year before leasing it in succession to Alcock, Major George Morris and James Arnot from 1903 to 1911. At that time the bakery closed and the business struggled against the competition from the stores at Pennant Hills Station.
Although only twenty years as a shopkeeper there, Thomas Thompson found his name had become attached to the locality and it is still today known as Thompsons Corner.
There is a reference to Thompson's Corner in the Town and Country Journal of 3 March 1888 p.44 in an article entitled 'On the Pennant Hills Road' which read: 'On the high ridge along which the Parramatta road runs, and at the junction of the road going to the Pennant Hills station is a little hamlet rejoicing in this style and title of Thompson's Corner. Around this pretty focus are gathered many fine orchards.'
Information provided by Patricia Dewey in 'They lived along Pennant Hills Road' (2020) p.142
LocationWest Pennant HillsThompsonWest Pennant HillsPart of
CollectionRalph Hawkins
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Thomas Thompson junior (1841-1918). Hornsby Shire, accessed 21/09/2023, https://hornsbyshire.recollect.net.au/nodes/view/3359