TAPLIN, Thomas Henry Ford
(Service number 9/1361)
| First Rank | Trooper | Last Rank | Sergeant |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 28/10/1894 | Place of Birth | Timaru |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | 13 June 1915 | Age | 20 years 7 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | Maruakoa | ||
| Occupation | Ploughman | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | Mrs John TAPLIN (mother), Hilderthorpe, Oamaru; later Pukeuri Junction, Oamaru | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | 6th Reinforcements | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | Special Squadrons | ||
| Date | 14 August 1915 | ||
| Transport | Tofua | ||
| Embarked From | Destination | Suez, Egypt | |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | Otago Infantry Regiment, 1st Battalion | ||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | Egyptian; Egyptian Expeditionary Force; Western European | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | 1914-1915 Star; British War Medal; Victory Medal | ||
Award Circumstances and Date
No information
Prisoner of War Information
| Date of Capture | |
|---|---|
| Where Captured and by Whom | |
| Actions Prior to Capture | |
| PoW Serial Number | |
| PoW Camps | |
| Days Interned | |
| Liberation Date |
Death
| Date | 8 June 1926 | Age | 31 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Cashmere Sanatorium, Christchurch | ||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Oamaru Cemetery | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | Memorial in St Luke’s Anglican Church, Oamaru | ||
Biographical Notes
Thomas Henry Ford Taplin, known as Tom or Ford, was born on 28 October 1894 at Timaru, the youngest son of John Samuel and Anna Rosetta (née Ford) Taplin. John and Anna married on 21 December 1885 at Timaru where four sons and four daughters were born. Thomas H. F. Taplin was baptised on 10 May 1898 at St Mary’s, Timaru, along with his brother Robert and sisters Elizabeth and Anna. Ford started at Waimataitai School, Timaru a few weeks after his fifth birthday. John Samuel Taplin who was the much-respected foreman butcher at Smithfield Works, and his wife were made several presentations by employees in May 1902 on his retirement from the position. A few months later Ford and his siblings went from Waimataitai School to Picton. Anna Rosetta Taplin, the second daughter of John and Anna, died at Picton in 1903, just 6½ years old. J. S. continued as a butcher at Picton until he was successful in a land ballot at Totara just out of Oamaru. So, he took up farming in 1908. Thomas Taplin enlisted on 13 June 1915 at Trentham. A ploughman at Maruakoa (a small farming settlement in the Waitaki district), single and of Church of England affiliation, he named his mother as next-of-kin – Mrs John Taplin, Hilderthorpe, Oamaru. He was serving with the 10th Regiment. Trooper T. Taplin embarked with the Special Squadrons of the 6th Reinforcements, leaving for Suez, Egypt per the “Tofua” on 14 August 1915. He embarked for the return to New Zealand at Plymouth on 24 August 1918 per the “Ionic” (Returning Draft 187). He had served overseas for more than three years in Egypt and Western Europe. He was discharged on 5 December 1918 and was awarded the 1914-1915 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. After the war Tom followed a different line of work – a greaser or engineer. He married Jean Rae on 22 March 1922. Thomas and Jean lived at Pukeuri Junction and were to have two daughters (Phyllis and Nellie) before his early death. Thomas Henry Ford Taplin died on 8 June 1926 at the Cashmere Sanatorium, Christchurch, aged 31 years. He was buried in the Oamaru Old Cemetery where a services stone marks his grave. Jean died in November 1965 and was buried alongside Thomas. Thomas Taplin’s name is inscribed on the Memorial in St Luke’s Anglican Church, Oamaru, as are those of his brothers. Two brothers of Thomas Henry Ford Taplin served in World War One – George William Taplin and Robert Frederick Ford Taplin (Bert) who died of wounds on 14 October 1917 in France; as did two cousins – John Langdon Gabb (son of Jane Taplin and Alfred Frederick Gabb), and William Paul Richards who died of wounds on 7 October 1917 in France (son of Sarah Taplin and her second husband George Richards). Two nephews served in World War Two - Ronald Warwick Taplin (son of John Robert Taplin and Florence May Warwick) and John Robert McGregor (son of Elizabeth Rosetta Violet Taplin and James Reid McGregor); as did a cousin - John Leonard George Bradding (son of Elizabeth Fanny Taplin and Henry Leonard Bradding). John Samuel Taplin, his brother Thomas Henry Taplin, their parents (George and Elizabeth) and most, maybe all, of their siblings had settled at Timaru in the late 1870s. John Samuel Taplin died in 1938 at Oamaru and was buried there with his wife Anna Rosetta Taplin who died in 1928.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [05 January 2024]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [05 January 2024]; School Admission records (South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [05 January 2024]; Anglican Baptism record (South Canterbury Branch NZSG records) [07 January 2024]; Oamaru Cemetery burial records (Waitaki District Council) [07 January 2024]; Oamaru Cemetery headstone image (Find A Grave) [07 January 2024]’ Oamaru Cemetery headstone transcriptions [07 January 2024]; Otago Daily Times, 28 June 1938 (Papers Past) [07 January 2024]
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Researched and Written by
Teresa Scott, SC Genealogy Society
Currently Assigned to
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Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.
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