Listers, I have an article from a Vancouver newspaper from 1955, which is about a man named Willie Thomson who is described as being, in 1855, a "young Scottish ship's carpenter" who had some time previously been shipwrecked on the west coast of Vancouver Island and served some time as a slave of an Indian tribe. The article does not state that he was Orcadian, nor does it state that he was connected with Hudson's Bay Company, but it does say that he owed money to HBC. Since the name Thomson has some connections to Orkney, and because the HBC did take lots of Orkney men to Canada, I throw the name in and enquire whether any Lister thinks they can identify this Willie Thomson or, better yet, thinks they are related to him. The article doesn't have a lot of detail, but does describe his wife and two children who were aged 84 & 73 in 1955, so born about 1870 and 1881. It also describes the homestead he established near Victoria. Some vague mentions are also made of grandchildren Ken Harrison North Vancouver, Canada Unless specifically stated otherwise in this message, there is no intentional attachment on this e-mail transmission.

Ken:   Here's a "maybe" from 1881 census:  As you can see, there is a Fanny Thom(p)son born 1869/70 & a Robert, born 1881...    William THOMPSON   M   Male   Scottish   51   Scotland   Farmer   Church of England   Margaret THOMPSON   M   Female   Scottish   40   Scotland      Church of England   David THOMPSON      Male   Scottish   23   British Columbia   Farmer   Church of England   Alexander THOMPSON      Male   Scottish   21   British Columbia   Farmer   Church of England   Richard THOMPSON      Male   Scottish   19   British Columbia   Farmer Son   Church of England   Walter THOMPSON      Male   Scottish   15   British Columbia      Church of England   Lizzie THOMPSON      Female   Scottish   14   British Columbia      Church of England   Fanny THOMPSON      Female   Scottish   11   British Columbia      Church of England   John THOMPSON      Male   Scottish   9   British Columbia      Church of England   Allan THOMPSON      Male   Scottish   8   British Columbia      Church of England   Grace THOMPSON      Female   Scottish   6   British Columbia      Church of England   Hugh THOMPSON      Male   Scottish   2   British Columbia      Church of England   Robert B THOMPSON      Male   Scottish   <1 Born: <Jun>; 10/12   British Columbia      Church of England  Source Information:   Census Place (South and North), Saanich, Vancouver, British Columbia   Family History Library Film   1375921   NA Film Number   C-13285   District   191   Sub-district   D   Page Number   9   Household Number   39   Then a 1901 census:  District: BC VANCOUVER ISLAND (#3) Subdistrict: Victoria (South/Sud) I-1 Page 6   25   53 Thomson William M   Head M Apr 5 1832 68 26   53 Thomson Margaret F   Wife M Mar 16 1841 60 27   53 Thomson Alexander M   Son S May 14 1858 42 28   53 Thomson Grace F   Daughter S Jan 19 1876 25 29   53 Thomson B. Robert M   Son S Jul 1 1880 20 30   53 Thomson G. Margaret F   Daughter S Aug 22 1882 18   Unfortunately, we cannot look at the additional information from the 1881 census but looking at the original census form from 1901, we can see that William came from Scotland in 1854, Margaret in 1853 and his occupation was farmer. (www.automatedgenealogy.com)   Hope this is of some minimal help!   Sandi Bellefeuille, Mississauga, ON   --- On Tue, 12/30/08, Ken Harrison <kenharrison43@shaw.ca> wrote: From: Ken Harrison <kenharrison43@shaw.ca> Subject: [ORKNEY] Willie Thomson To: "Query Orkney" <ORKNEY@rootsweb.com> Received: Tuesday, December 30, 2008, 8:47 PM Listers, I have an article from a Vancouver newspaper from 1955, which is about a man named Willie Thomson who is described as being, in 1855, a "young Scottish ship's carpenter" who had some time previously been shipwrecked on the west coast of Vancouver Island and served some time as a slave of an Indian tribe. The article does not state that he was Orcadian, nor does it state that he was connected with Hudson's Bay Company, but it does say that he owed money to HBC. Since the name Thomson has some connections to Orkney, and because the HBC did take lots of Orkney men to Canada, I throw the name in and enquire whether any Lister thinks they can identify this Willie Thomson or, better yet, thinks they are related to him. The article doesn't have a lot of detail, but does describe his wife and two children who were aged 84 & 73 in 1955, so born about 1870 and 1881. It also describes the homestead he established near Victoria. Some vague mentions are also made of grandchildren Ken Harrison North Vancouver, Canada Unless specifically stated otherwise in this message, there is no intentional attachment on this e-mail transmission. ------------------ List Archives, information on contacting list administrator, Subscribing and UnSubscribing can be found at: http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/intl/SCT/ORKNEY.html ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ORKNEY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Sandi, That is definitely the family described in the article. The names of the husband and wife agree, plus son John (Jack) born abt 1870, daughter Margaret b. abt 1882, (both alive in 1955). The location in Saanich is also in agreement. The article names the wife's mother and grandmother and provides some other details, and refers to a reunion with over 100 descendants in attendance in 1955. Ken Harrison North Vancouver, Canada -----Original Message----- From: orkney-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:orkney-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Sandi Bellefeuille Sent: December 30, 2008 2:01 PM To: orkney@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [ORKNEY] Willie Thomson Ken:   Here's a "maybe" from 1881 census:  As you can see, there is a Fanny Thom(p)son born 1869/70 & a Robert, born 1881...    William THOMPSON   M   Male   Scottish   51   Scotland   Farmer   Church of England   Margaret THOMPSON   M   Female   Scottish   40   Scotland   Church of England   David THOMPSON   Male   Scottish   23   British Columbia   Farmer   Church of England   Alexander THOMPSON   Male   Scottish   21   British Columbia   Farmer   Church of England   Richard THOMPSON   Male   Scottish   19   British Columbia   Farmer Son   Church of England   Walter THOMPSON   Male   Scottish   15   British Columbia   Church of England   Lizzie THOMPSON   Female   Scottish   14   British Columbia   Church of England   Fanny THOMPSON   Female   Scottish   11   British Columbia   Church of England   John THOMPSON   Male   Scottish   9   British Columbia   Church of England   Allan THOMPSON   Male   Scottish   8   British Columbia   Church of England   Grace THOMPSON   Female   Scottish   6   British Columbia   Church of England   Hugh THOMPSON   Male   Scottish   2   British Columbia   Church of England   Robert B THOMPSON   Male   Scottish   <1 Born: <Jun>; 10/12   British Columbia   Church of England  Source Information: Census Place (South and North), Saanich, Vancouver, British Columbia Family History Library Film   1375921 NA Film Number   C-13285 District   191 Sub-district   D Page Number   9 Household Number   39   Then a 1901 census:  District: BC VANCOUVER ISLAND (#3) Subdistrict: Victoria (South/Sud) I-1 Page 6 25   53 Thomson William M Head M Apr 5 1832 68 26 53 Thomson Margaret F Wife M Mar 16 1841 60 27 53 Thomson Alexander M Son S May 14 1858 42 28 53 Thomson Grace F Daughter S Jan 19 1876 25 29 53 Thomson B. Robert M Son S Jul 1 1880 20 30 53 Thomson G. Margaret F Daughter S Aug 22 1882 18   Unfortunately, we cannot look at the additional information from the 1881 census but looking at the original census form from 1901, we can see that William came from Scotland in 1854, Margaret in 1853 and his occupation was farmer. (www.automatedgenealogy.com)   Hope this is of some minimal help!   Sandi Bellefeuille, Mississauga, ON --- On Tue, 12/30/08, Ken Harrison <kenharrison43@shaw.ca> wrote: From: Ken Harrison <kenharrison43@shaw.ca> Subject: [ORKNEY] Willie Thomson To: "Query Orkney" <ORKNEY@rootsweb.com> Received: Tuesday, December 30, 2008, 8:47 PM Listers, I have an article from a Vancouver newspaper from 1955, which is about a man named Willie Thomson who is described as being, in 1855, a "young Scottish ship's carpenter" who had some time previously been shipwrecked on the west coast of Vancouver Island and served some time as a slave of an Indian tribe. The article does not state that he was Orcadian, nor does it state that he was connected with Hudson's Bay Company, but it does say that he owed money to HBC. Since the name Thomson has some connections to Orkney, and because the HBC did take lots of Orkney men to Canada, I throw the name in and enquire whether any Lister thinks they can identify this Willie Thomson or, better yet, thinks they are related to him. The article doesn't have a lot of detail, but does describe his wife and two children who were aged 84 & 73 in 1955, so born about 1870 and 1881. It also describes the homestead he established near Victoria. Some vague mentions are also made of grandchildren Ken Harrison North Vancouver, Canada