Thomas Logan Williamson Part 3: 1866

An eventful year - in so many ways - for Thomas and his family. 

1866

1866 January 2   Onehunga regatta  for 1866; T Williamson mentioned on committee. There are several other names on the committee which have become familiar in association with Thomas's activities, so it would be fair to say that he was a well-known member of the Onehunga maritime community and a participant in social and recreational activities. 
1866 January 6   Results of the regatta. (Williamson came first in the Favourite for trading vessels race. 
1866 January 26   Favourite  in port from Waikato 
1866 February 17 Favourite  in port from Waikato 

Thomas's  activities to and from Port Waikato seem to have been involved with transporting goods and supplies for, and sometimes people involved with, military or militia activities.    His South Island deliveries seem to be based on transporting supplies for gold miners on the West Coast. 

1866 March 8    Looks like Thomas owed some money. I have not been able to find any further information about who the Wiliam [sic] McNaughten is.  The clue that this is probably our Thomas is that this is the Resident Magistrate's Court in Onehunga. 

1866 April 16 On April 16, the Favourite  was cleared for departure from Onehunga with Thomas as the master - and agent - taking 20 tons of potatoes to Okarita.  He had one passenger with him - Richard Cox. 

Thomas Williamson, his passenger Richard Cox, and the Favourite never arrived at Okarita. (Known now as Okarito). 

At the time of the gold rush, Okarita/o was the largest settlement on the West Coast. Interestingly, this time and place was the setting for Eleanor Catton's Booker-Prize-winning novel The Luminaries.

There was Richard Cox, store keeper, and later a hotel keeper, of Hokitika, which could have been Thomas's passenger, but as he is still mentioned as a store keeper after 1866, I guess it's not him.  There was a miner on the West Coast, also called Richard Cox - from Cornwall - who was killed when earth fell on him in 1869.  I can find no other reference to any likely Richard Cox, including death certificates issued under that name, although there is one for Richard Cox 1869 - the unfortunate miner, no doubt.

This is an article about Okarita in February 1866, outlining the impact on the small township of the recent find of gold, and that the "rush" has begun, requiring a track to be cut for easier transport of supplies. It also suggests a  need for "tucker" .  

In May 1866, an article suggests that the rush is almost over, and weather and tides have had an effect on the landscape and viability of the township. According to Maori oral accounts, there's a great possibility of the place being completely underwater, and has been in living memory. 

 There is another mention of  Okarita in June3 1866, giving an idea of the development of the gold rush and what life was like for those there. This is where Thomas was heading with his cargo of potatoes. In early August, 1866, 

1866 May 25  The schooner Thane of Fife (Hughes, master) arrived in Onehunga on 25th May, and reported that the Favourite had been in company with her for two days on her passage to Hokitika, but nothing since has been heard of her. 

1866 June 11  No sign of missing cutter Favourite . 

1866 June 26  In spite of there being still no word of Thomas, his eldest daughter, Annie Williamson, married Alexander Farquhar, master of the paddle steamer Prince Alfred on June 25th. Note that is identifies Thomas as Captain J Williamson - clearly a typo.   

I wonder what kind of wedding it must have been for them all, knowing that Thomas was most likely lost at sea.  Alexander was well known to Thomas and the two would have had much in common. This is the same Captain Farquhar who took Thomas and his new mast back to Port Waikato in November when the Favourite's mast had to be replaced. 

1866 July 16 Wreckage sighted near Kaipara - but not likely to be from Favourite . 
1866 August 3 Favourite from Okarita still listed as expected into the Port of Onehunga. 
1866 September 19 Favourite from Okarita still listed as expected into the Port of Onehunga.
1866 December 27 Birth of Alexander Faquhar Williamson, Thomas's last child, born approximately 8 months after Thomas was last seen.  

It would seem that Thomas's cutter  Favourite  was ill-fated by name and in its own right. (See previous entries about  mast breaking, and getting stuck on a bar.)

1867 May 31  Proof the our Thomas has been declared dead.  His name is removed from the list of Onehunga electors for the electoral district of Onehunga. 

In a list  of  coastal New Zealand shipwrecks, there are 4 vessels named Favourite  which have been wrecked on NZ coasts. 

And that doesn't seem to include the cutter  Favourite, from Dunedin,  in 1857, captained by  (must be) another Thomas Williamson, which was dashed to pieces on rocks  in a river trying to get to sea. 

And that is all I have been able to find out about Thomas Logan Williamson to date.  If you have any further information about him or his activities,  I would love to add it here. 

Interestingly, there is no record of Thomas Logan Williamson or the Favorite in the New Zealand Maritime Index, although his son, Robert (Mann) Williamson is listed (lost at sea in shipwreck on Manukau Bar, 1874). 

In the meantime, I would still love to know: 

- Where was Thomas born?
- How, when  and why did he come to New Zealand?
- Where was he, and what was he doing in the years where I have no mention of him in the previous blogs
- Is there a photo of Thomas  or any of his vessels anywhere?
- Is there any other family/ descendants' information to support, confirm or refute any of the assumptions I've made - or any of the Thomas Williamsons I"ve found?
- Was there a memorial service or memorial anywhere for Thomas.
- Who was Richard Cox who was lost with Thomas. 
- How did his wife Elizabeth cope? 
- How many people today can trace their ancestry back to Thomas? 

R.I.P Thomas Logan Williamson