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138:, the richest bookmaker, Thompson left for England and pastures new. He certainly found no welcome among the bookmaking fraternity there and was palmed off with "upper crust" customers who considered payment of debts rather below their station. He did eventually find his feet, and if he did not greatly increase his wealth, he did not fail either, and came to be known as one of the leaders of the ring. When a rumour arose impugning his ability to honour large debts, a wealthy South Australian
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pier. He went to the diggings but the anticipated "gold for the picking" failed to materialise, and he returned to the sea for another three years, serving out his apprenticeship. He again sailed to
Melbourne and this time found a little gold at
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poo-poohed the notion. He did a lot of travelling back and forth across the
Channel as an outlet for his indomitable energy, but it could not last forever. He made one last trip to South Africa for his health and died at
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In those days there were four big bookmakers: Thomas Coker, Tom Bavin, "the morose" Boole and Fred Goyder, who guarded their monopoly jealously. To enter the "ring", Thompson would have to gain membership of
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Thompson married Rose Maria
Barnett (died March 1912), on 12 February 1868. She was a daughter of John Barnett (c. 1816 â 16 April 1878) and sister of bookmaker Oscar Barnett. Their children were:
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Only fools back horses, sir; wise men turn bookmakers and lay 'em, and there are a thousand fools for every wise man. So you see, sir, there's plenty of business for me and such as me.
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three times. It has not been suggested that this was on account of his Jewish ancestry, but must remain a possibility. He was finally elected thanks to the support of
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Leah
Thompson (6 January 1869 â c. 1930) was a talented singer, admitted as a student of the Royal Academy of Music in 1890, married Ernest Lawrence Windover of the
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Stories about his early days in
Australia are often contradictory and impossible to pin down. In one version he first arrived in 1852 aboard a ship named
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His brothers
Phineas (died 4 July 1900), John ("Jack", died 13 April 1890), Barnett ("Barney") and Harry Thompson, were all bookmakers for a time.
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of 25 January 1885, when seven passengers lost their lives, though none in their carriage. At the time expressing his gratitude to the people from
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Thompson was for a period a successful owner; horses he either owned openly or had interests in, included King of the Ring, Argus
Scandal,
70:), he arrived in 1854 as an apprentice seaman, and "jumped ship" by hiding in an empty water barrel for 36 hours before being unloaded at
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213:(1835â1879) at his Australian Hotel, opposite Kirk's Bazaar; "Bowes's Tattersall's Club" continued under that name into the 1920s.
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He never repudiated his family name; in newspaper "Family
Notices" he identified himself as Solomon or Solomon-Thompson.
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In 1889, at the top of the racing game and one of the wealthiest men in
Australia, and with the possible exception of
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33:, born Joseph Solomon (6 March 1838 â 3 March 1909) "King of the Ring" "The Leviathan", was a bookmaker in
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Thompson was born in London to tobacco merchant Samuel T. Solomon. and his wife Jessie
Solomon, nÊe Levi.
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205:(1831â1906) conducted a Tattersall's, where wagers were settled, at Kirk's Horse Bazaar, 49
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396:. Vol. XXV, no. 7376. New South Wales, Australia. 22 March 1912. p. 5
340:. Vol. LXXXVI, no. 2, 241. Victoria, Australia. 13 March 1909. p. 16
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309:. Vol. LXVIII, no. 17, 524. South Australia. 13 January 1903. p. 5
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who came to their aid under appalling conditions, he was later highly critical.
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Australian Dictionary of Biography: 'Thompson, Joseph (Joe) (1838â1909)'
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424:. No. 10, 652. Queensland, Australia. 31 March 1936. p. 5
278:. No. 6, 766. Victoria, Australia. 14 February 1868. p. 4
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368:. No. 3782. Victoria, Australia. 29 January 1885. p. 3
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He was one of a party of bookmakers in the train wrecked in the
247:. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University
79:, enough to set himself up in 1857 as a small-time bookmaker.
60:, none of which can be confirmed. In an interview with
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180:They had a home "Don Juan" at Albert Street,
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432:– via National Library of Australia.
404:– via National Library of Australia.
376:– via National Library of Australia.
348:– via National Library of Australia.
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317:– via National Library of Australia.
286:– via National Library of Australia.
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37:, Victoria, and later in London, England.
22:Photograph of Joe Thompson (published in
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24:Sharps, flats, gamblers, and racehorses
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176:daughter (23 July 1876 â ) premature
170:John Thompson (6 September 1870 â )
360:"The Cootamundra Railway Disaster"
209:west; then from 1878 conducted by
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120:Salt Clay Creek railway disaster
173:daughter (2 September 1871 â )
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151:on his way back to England.
388:"Death of Mrs Joe Thompson"
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465:Horse racing in Australia
165:Windover Carriage Company
301:"Leviathan Joe Thompson"
306:The Register (Adelaide)
241:Clive Turnbull (1976).
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460:Australian bookmakers
275:The Argus (Melbourne)
211:William Patrick Bowes
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190:Notes and references
107:(winner of the 1873
26:by A. Dick Luckman.
365:Hamilton Spectator
203:George John Watson
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393:The Barrier Miner
332:"Joseph Thompson"
90:Tattersall's Club
62:Ernest Whitington
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416:"Wife's Letters"
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113:James Wilson
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67:The Register
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64:("Rufus" of
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455:1909 deaths
450:1838 births
421:Cairns Post
140:W. K. Simms
124:Cootamundra
94:blackballed
444:Categories
92:, but was
72:Sandridge
35:Melbourne
167:in 1891.
105:Don Juan
54:Soldanha
50:Soldarha
149:Madeira
145:Funchal
58:Salanha
41:History
400:10 May
155:Family
77:Ararat
428:8 May
372:9 May
344:7 May
313:7 May
282:9 May
251:7 May
430:2021
402:2021
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56:or
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
