Thomas (Tom) is the ninth child of my great great grandparents – Francis and Elizabeth Woodhouse.  He was born on 10 July 1879 at Mt Benger (Ettrick) and spent his youth in Roxburgh and Bannockburn.

The earliest records of Tom is after the death of his brother Robert in 1897.  It could be suggested, quite harshly, that a vacancy was created in the Bannockburn rugby team, and at the age of 18 his name starts to appear shortly thereafter joining another of his brothers Archibald Steele (Archie) Woodhouse in the team.

He plays for the next couple of years but his position appears to be shared with another brother, Francis, who was nine years his senior.

Tom next made headlines in the paper when he assisted a woman who had an accident driving her horse and buggy off the road.  The nature of this kind of accident was all too regular during these times, due to the fickle nature of horses and also the poor quality tracks around the goldfields, and it was very fortunate for the woman (or horse) not to have been more seriously injured or killed as was more often the case.

In the earliest part of the 1900’s Tom moved to Waikaka (approximately 25 kilometres north of Gore) and the electoral rolls suggest that he continued as a miner and also as a dredge builder.  However, there was a shift during this time into farming (possibly on the farm that his future in-laws owned) and then into running a store/saloon on the main street of Waikaka.  From this store there were a variety of activities including hairdressing and billiards, as well as selling produce such as liquor, fruit and vegetables.

He demonstrated a sharp sense of humour when he tried to apply for a late liquor license because of needing to do haircuts as late as 11pm.  Tom obviously inherited his mother’s talents for entertainment (possibly skills honed during their time at the Carrick Range Hotel) and there are several accounts of Waikaka events that involved Tom either singing or playing the piano.

It was during this time that he was to meet his future wife – Catherine Day.  She is the eldest child of our great great grandparents, early settlers of Waikaka – John Day (a farmer) and his wife Annie, and she was born in 1886.

Their first child was born on Christmas Eve 1907 – William Francis Woodhouse (my grandfather Frank), followed by Thomas Andrew (1909) and Robert Leo (1913).  They have a fourth son in 1920 but unfortunately this was stillborn. Finally they have Anne Margaret Joyce (Joy) in (1922).

During this time the family operated the shop and worked the land that supplied produce to sell.  When Robert (more regularly known as Leo) was born their lives changed somewhat due to him being ‘special needs’.  When Catherine was pregnant with Leo she contracted measles and this caused his severe disability.

Tom features in various newspaper articles and advertisements including when he was twice charged with being on licensed premises on a Sunday.  However on the first occasion he was unlikely to be severely frowned upon by his wife’s family as two of the co-accused were two of his brothers-in-law – Andrew and Frank.  What is more of a concern is that they weren’t even drinking!

 

In 1913 Tom and Catherine purchased the leases on three sections in the Waikaka district and used this land for grazing as well as growing produce for their store.  However, the decision was made to wind down the business in 1917 and focus solely on farming the land until that too is sold in 1920.

After winding down all their interests in Waikaka they moved to Dunedin, (following Catherine’s family who had shifted there earlier in 1920) and according to the electoral rolls they lived at 49 Broughton St in South Dunedin for approximately 10 years.  During this time Frank married Emily Brosnan (1928) and Thomas married Gladys Docherty (1931), with both sons moving out and setting up on their own.  Newly-weds Frank and Emily lived at 57 Broughton St when daughter Shirley was born 24 Dec 1930.

In 1931 Tom and Catherine shifted three houses up to 55 Broughton St for the next nine years or so.  These houses are no longer standing because industrial buildings now dominate both sections.  Tom is listed as a carpenter and they have Leo living with them for all of this time.  Tom retired and he, Catherine and Leo shift to Purakaunui for all of the 1940’s where they are joined by Catherine’s mother Annie Day until she passes away in 1943.

Unfortunately during this time they must deal with further tragedy when their son Thomas dies as a result of an accident in Princes St in 1945.  He was only 35 years old. There was a coroner’s inquest, reported in-depth, in the Otago Daily Times and a brief page in this blog has been repectfully written to detail his short life.

In the early 1950’s Tom, Catherine and Leo shift to 113 Harbour Terrace, in North Dunedin.

It is there that Leo passes away at the age of 41 on 15 September 1954.

Tom and Catherine celebrated their golden wedding anniversary at the Logan Park Bowling Green Hotel on Wednesday 19 December 1956 (conveniently a very short walk from where they lived).

Just over two years later Tom passed away on 25 January 1959 in his eightieth year.

Now on her own, Catherine Woodhouse shifted to 60 Gladstone Rd to live with her daughter Joy and her husband Fred Hall.  They were married six years earlier, in 1952.

The house is memorable to some family members and over recent times has fallen into a very poor state.

Catherine passed away on 3 July 1966 at the age of 80, and she and Tom are buried at the Andersons Bay Cemetery.