Thompson Ancestry

[MThomp]

Newbie - This is quite an overwhelming site but I hope it gets easier the more I use it. I am trying to trace my father's ancestry but have come to a standstill. I've traced to my second great grandfather James Thompson born in Manchester in 1810, he came out to Australia as a passenger when he was a teenager, he married Ann Fitzgerald in 1848 in Bathurst New South Wales then moved to Parkes NSW he died in 1894. The trouble I'm having is I cannot find his father, his death certificate has his parents as unknown. Apparently, his father died when he was young and his mother remarried. He had two older twin brothers and they were engineers working between the UK and France. I am wondering if his father was Scottish as James was a member of the presbyterian church of Scotland.  If anyone has any helpful information, I would be very appreciative for any assistance. Thankyou

[ColC]

Welcome to Rootschat.

You may have quite a task, the fact that James was a member of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, may suggest that there is a Scottish connection. The name Thompson is generally an English form of the name, in Scotland it is Thomson, then you have the way it is recorded, which is not always correct.

How do you know that James was born/baptised in Manchester?

This below might be a possibility, do the names of the parents appear in the family of James?

James Thompson
England, Lancashire Non-Conformist Church Records, 1647-1996
Baptism  Lancashire, England, United Kingdom (This can include Presbyterian's)

Parents Richard Thompson, Hannah Thompson

They had several daughters but I can only see one son Richard 1801?

There are three others in Manchester on https://www.familysearch.org

All baptised in 1809, parents James Thompson, Rachel, Thos. Thompson, Jane Thompson, Thomas Thompson, Mary.

Plus this in 1808.
James Thomson Christening 5 August 1808
Manchester, Lancashire. Parents John Thomson, Ellen

Colin

[ColC]

I'm afraid this may rule out James posted earlier.

James Thompson born 1810 Burial  24 February 1828
Manchester Friends Burial Ground

Parents Richard Thompson, Hannah

Colin

[amondg]

Who did he give as his father on his marriage certificate?

ADDED

What names did he give his children?  They could be family names.

[chempat]

Hi,

Do you have any other information about the twin brothers?  e.g. any census data?

[chempat]

Don't know if you use Find My Past but you can search censuses by keyword - as in 'engineer'.  However, not having any luck with that, so probably they used different occupations on the censuses, or were always in France.

[MThomp]

I do believe I have a big task ahead, just looking for any clues that might put me in a direction. James being born in Manchester was given to me by a family member. There is nothing on the marriage certificate, it doesn't have either of their parents on it, which is disappointing, I have been trying to find his birth information but I have searched so many records. I have attached the portion of the information that details James Thompson's move to Australia. The only information about his brothers is in this document, something that does confuse me, and I wonder how accurate the information I have been given is his brothers were engineers yet on James' marriage certificate to Anne Fitzgerald he has an X marked for his signature, which I believe he was illiterate?? Thank you to those who have responded. Michelle