THURLOW, John William 

John William and Letitia (née Bickerstaff) Thurlow 

John William Thurlow, the second of thirteen children born to English parents John and Susan Jane Froment who emigrated the year he (John William) was born, was the only child born on Australian soil: his elder sister, Elizabeth was born at Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire - the remaining children in New Zealand. John William arrived from Melbourne, Victoria as a baby of no more than a few months with his parents, sister and uncle William who decided to try his luck with gold mining in Otago, New Zealand.  

John Marries a Scottish Lassie 

According to the Cambrians School roll,[1] John William and several of his brothers and sisters were pupils from 1873 onwards. John William, a digger from Vinegar Flat near St Bathans, married Letitia Bickerstaff, a Scottish lassie from Glasgow, a domestic servant, in the Mission church, Saint Bathans on 5 October 1888.  

The family continued to reside at Vinegar Flat which was also the home of Letitia's father, William Bickerstaff, also a digger. The gold-mining settlement of Vinegar Flat, only a short 6km from St Bathans, was named after Vinegar Hill in Ireland. The encampment was the scene of bitter conflict in 1798 when Catholic rebels were defeated at the Battle of Vinegar Hill, outside Enniscorthy, County Wexford. The New Zealand settlement which witnessed many fights over mining claims was probably reminiscent of the earlier battle scenes in Ireland and was so named by the local prospectors as a reminder of this bloodied incident in Irish history. In a later record dated 1904, John William was named in the Will of John Thurlow, his father, as a surfaceman of Vinegar Flat. 

Family of Ten Children 

Ten children are known to have been born to John William and his wife, Letitia, most of whom were born at Cambrians, the site of old alluvial gold workings and coal pits which, before 1873, was known as Walshmans (Gully). 

•  John William (II), 1889-1919, known as "Jack", married Lily Elsie Thompson in 1916

• Albert Edward, 1892-1978, married (1) Isabella Henderson in 1919, (2) Helen Kydd in 1921      

• Martha Anne, 1893-1893, died 24 days after her birth in September 1893. She was buried in the family grave

at St Bathans cemetery

• George Frederick, 1896-1952, married Margaret Ryrie in 1921    

• Letitia, known as "Letty", 1899-1980, married James Andrew Barclay in 1924 

• Mary Margaret, 1900-1900, did not survive birth        

• Mary Grace, 1901-1967, married William Cranefield in 1926       

• Richard Mallet, known as Richie or Dick, 1903-1988, married Lorna Isabel Annan in 1940     

• Christina Margaret, known as Teanie, 1905-1983, and       

• James Fordham, known as Jim, 1906-1999, married Veronica May Todd in 1936. Both Richie and Jim were lorry drivers. 

John William (I) died in 1945, aged 84 years and was laid to rest at Dunedin. His wife, Letitia, outlived her husband by another 10 years and 5 months, dying at the age of 85 years. 

[1]Mason, J. and Wilson, H., The History of Education in the Upper Manuherikia Valley.