James Thompson Middlebrook

1858 – 1930

 

James Thompson Middlebrook was born on the 7th March 1858, making him just 4 years old when his family emigrated from the UK to New Zealand, so he would really not have remembered a different life than the new life his parents made for him here in New Zealand, and at age 8 when his father died, he would likely have relied on his elder brothers as male role models.

James seems to live in close proximity to his siblings for most of his life. He is working at age 13 in Tararu, Thames at the same time his sister Jane is living there. He also spends time in Katikati with Samuel, Ponsonby at the same time as John and Jane, and then in Opua in the 1890s  ( where Jane was also living at the time) and then he moved back to Auckland for the later part of his life.. James was a carpenter by trade, building several of the houses he and his family lived in.  James married twice, divorcing his first wife due to her desertion of him in 1902 after which he married Julia Sullivan, a widower with 5 children and together they raised a further 4 more children. James died in 1930 and is  buried next to his mother Ellen at Purewa Cemetery in Auckland NZ.

 

FAMILY OF JAMES THOMPSON MIDDLEBROOK