Finding out about Thomas

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Friday I uncovered a mystery. Actually Cousin Leonie did. Leonie is a librarian at the Christchurch Library. One of the first days I was there, I was just leaving and had a few questions. She happened to be manning the New Zealand history desk. As we began to talk, she started asking questions about why my ancestors immigrated to the US. I told her that three of the sister’s joined the Mormon Church. Well, she just smiled. She is LDS also; but she is part of the family that didn’t join the church and stayed in Christchurch. She has only been a member for about 15 years. We realized our families were in north Christchurch at the same time and probably knew each other; hence the name “Cousin Leonie.” She is sending temple names to her family in Utah because getting to the New Zealand temple is so difficult. Last Friday I checked in with Cousin Leonie. She has a Master’s in Maori Studies so usually works in the Maori section, but at a slow period one day she started looking for a few people I had asked her about. Wow! I found out about Thomas Johnstone Drake. Who is he? This is what I found out.

Thomas Johnstone Drake married Elizabeth Rowntree 1884. (Remember, Elizabeth is the oldest sister.) They moved to Lyttelton which is a harbor just southeast of Christchurch. Thomas was a constable. They had seven children. I think they moved to Wellington where Thomas was a Sergeant. So why was he buried in Whangarei (pronounced Fon-gurr-ray)? There are several articles about him if you look up “Papers Past” and put in the actual phrase, “Thomas Johnstone Drake.” But the one Leonie found was this:

SUDDEN DEATH OF A POLICE SERGEANT
Whangarei, Saturday. Today Thomas Johnson Drake, Sergeant of Police, expired suddenly in Dr. Ventry Smith’s surgery, which is attached to the chemist’s shop of Mr. H. C. Hemus. At the conclusion of a court case he complained of pain in the heart, and went to consult the doctor. He was in the surgery only a minute when he placed his hands on his heart, with the words, “I’m going,” and fell dead. He leaves a widow and seven children.

So on June 6, 1908, Thomas died of a heart attack, leaving Elizabeth to finish raising the seven children; the oldest was 23 and the youngest was 9. She lived another 43 years, dying in 1951. As Cousin Leonie said, “Isn’t that so sad.”