Buried Athelhampton with Burleston, Dorset
The name of Ernest Charles Thompson appears on the electoral roll of Micklethwaite in 1915, and in 1918 he is listed as an absent voter on account of Naval or Military service. It is interesting that on this electoral roll, the next entry is for a Rose Thompson. By 1919, Ernest and Rose appear again on the electoral roll for Micklethwaite, but Ernest is not marked as absent, so it appears he must have returned from his Military Service.
We made an assumption that Rose was Ernest's wife and used that information to try to identify him. We found a Ernest Charles Thompson, born on the 10th February 1877 in Histon Cambridgeshire, who married Rose Rosbroke (or sometimes Rosbrook) in the second quarter of 1900 in Suffolk. Ernest's parents were Charles and Elizabeth Thompson. In 1901, Ernest and Rose were living at 87 Barrow Hill Road, Barrow in Suffolk with Rose's parents. Ernest was described in the census as an apprentice electrician. By 1911, Ernest and Rose were living in their own home in Great Barton, with Ernest's occupation now given as a domestic electrician working at a "Gentleman's private house". They had had two children, Ernest J R Thompson, born in 1909, and Muriel Elizabeth Rosbrook Thompson born in 1910. Both children born in Great Barton, Bury St.Edmunds, Suffolk.
As well as working as an electrician we believe Ernest may well have undertaken other jobs such as a chauffeur. A newspaper report from 1906 provides some insights:
Between 1911 and 1915 Ernest and Rose must have moved to Yorkshire, as Ernest is on the electoral roll in Micklethwaite in 1915. It is interesting that Mr Frank Riley-Smith of Barton Hall near Bury St.Edmunds, who Ernest had worked with, died in March 1912. Riley-Smith had been born in Harrogate and had relatives in Tadcaster, and we wonder if connections had prompted Ernest and Rose to re-locate to the Wetherby area and, given his address in Micklethwaite, we could speculate whether he moved to take up a post at Wetherby Grange. It is also noteworthy that later in life, in 1939, Ernest gives his occupation as a retired chauffeur.
There are 9 men named Ernest Charles Thompson, or EC Thompson, and another four named Charles Ernest Thompson, in the medal rolls for the first World War and we have not been able to precisely identify the Micklethwaite man or locate his service record. It is also possible that he did not qualify for any medal and may not be identifiable in this way.
In 1920 and in 1921, Ernest and Rose are on the electoral rolls for Kirk Deighton (Ingmanthorpe), but after 1921 we have not been able to find them in the area.
For 1924 and 1925 we have found an Ernest Thompson living with a Rose Thompson at 12 New Quebec Street, St. Marylebone, Westminster but do not know if this is the same couple.
In 1931 Ernest and Rose's daughter married in Dorset so the family may have moved to that county, and at the 1939 registration Ernest and Rose were living at 8 Charles Street, Dorchester. We believe that Ernest died in Dorset on the 6th July 1942 and he was buried on the 9th July 1942 at Athelhampton with Burleston, Admiston, Dorset.
If you are able to help us identify him, please contact us.
Biography last updated 17 February 2021 15:50:12.
Sources
1911 Census. The National Archives. Class RG14 Piece 10633
If you have any photographs or further details about this person we would be pleased to hear from you. Please contact us via: alan.berry@collinghamanddistrictwararchive.info