Heroes and Rebels in the Family Tree—Ernest “Ernie” William Thompson

 

Heroes and Rebels in the Family Tree—Ernest “Ernie” William Thompson

Ernest William Thompson was the oldest of three sons born to Ernest Joseph Thompson 1889-1937 and Phoebe Amelia Balls 1897-1968.  Ernie, as he was known by those who knew him, was born in Lowestoft, Suffolk, England on February 9, 1920 and baptised on March 14, 1920 in the Pakefield church.

Very little is known about Ernie’s private life, but he was well-known throughout the fishing community.  He was married, but it is not known who his wife was.  He is also, not known to have children.

But his fame was described in several publications.  Below are the excerpts which describe him best.

EDP Weekend, December 3, 2011

Last Hurrah for an Industry

“Madame Simone Barnagaud-Prunier, granddaughter of the founder of the world-famous Parisian restaurant Maison Prunier, made it her personal mission in life to popularize a fish about which the British appeared to care little unless it was smoked and served up as a kipper.  Her far-sighted plan was to raise public awareness about the quality of the herring being caught off the East Anglian coast.  She regarded them as the ‘finest’ of their kind, full of spawn and nutritional value.  . . .  And so, following meetings with industry leaders and support from the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, the Prunier Herring Trophy was born.


“In keeping with the East Anglian season, the competition ran from October 5 to November 28, a period it roughly adhered to throughout its existence, and culminated in a ceremonial luncheon at Prunier’s London restaurant where the trophy would be presented together with a £25 prize and a distinctive weather vane to be displayed on the victorious drifter’s for or mizzen mast.

“But of them all, few were as unforgettable as the Lord Hood’s much-heralded arrival on October 28, 1952. What Madame Prunier called “an astonishing voyage” was no exaggeration. When the black and red-funnelled steam drifter crept into port, laden to the rails and with only nine inches of free-board, she could barely make two knots.  Some 15 hours of hauling had been followed by an epic of patient and skillful seamanship as her 32-year-old home-grown skipper Ernest Thompson took 22 hours to bring her to port through rough seas without the loss of any gear. Hundreds of people lined the quayside to watch and cheer. It was the biggest herring catch on record—a massive 314 ¾ crans, with about 1000 fish to the cran.  It was the stuff of fishing legend, though the skipper’s own verdict was characteristically blunt. “These big shots are a matter of luck,” he declared.

“A few years later, in 1958, Ernie Thompson chalked up a second Prunier triumph six years later as skipper of the trawler/drifter St Luke, although this time his catch was little more than half his earlier winning haul and at 162¾ crans was the second lowest ever to secure the trophy. His double success was unparalleled in the competition’s history. . .”  Nobody had ever won the trophy more than once.

From the Lowestoft Journal:

“Throughout his long seagoing career, beginning when he went to sea aboard the Jenny Irvin, he was a man who earned the respect and friendship of his crew members and colleagues ashore.

“As a young drifterman in the 1930s he served aboard the Lord Anson, which became the first drifter to be taken over by the Royal Navy at the outbreak of war.

“He was also an accomplished trawler skipper, and commanded the Boston Hornet for may years.  This vessel lacked the power of some of the other ships in the Lowestoft fleet, but was nonetheless always a top earner.

“Ernie Thompson was skipper for a while of the experimental purseseiner Princess Anne, and later took over the Boston Viking.  Always willing to experiment, he was the first skipper to use nets made of synthetic material.

“When vessels of the Lowestoft fleet were sold abroad he acted as delivery skipper to destinations as far away as Cyprus and South Africa.

“Former manager of Boston Deep Sea Fisheries at Lowestoft, Peter Catchpole, paid warm tribute to Mr. Thompson as a man who was friend and mentor.  ‘He helped me probably as much as anyone I knew,’ he said.

“The front door of Ernie Thompson’s home at Pakefield featured glass panels depicting boats which had figured large in his career.”

Ernest William Thompson died in October 1997 at Great Yarmouth.

 

 


 

 















Genealogy: Ernest “Ernie” William Thompson 1920-1997 was the son of Ernest Joseph Thompson 1889-1937 and his father was William Thompson 1868-1955 and his father was James Thompson 1827-1914 and his father was William Thompson 1791-1873 and his father was Barzillai Thompson 1752-1822 and his daughter was Susannah Thompson 1793-1852 and her son was William Warford 1816-1859 and his son was William Durrant Warford 1843-1895 and his son was Daniel William Warford 1868-1944 and his wife was Ann Maria "Laura" Forster 1861-1934 and her sister was Caroline Forster 1864-1906 and her husband was George "Pikey" William Welch-Adams 1867-1940.

 

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