Dr. George Batchin Thompson, L.R.C.P., L.R.C.S Edin,. L.R.F.P.S Glas., MBE[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]
1870 - 1959 (88 years)
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Name George Batchin Thompson Prefix Dr. Suffix L.R.C.P., L.R.C.S Edin,. L.R.F.P.S Glas., MBE Birth 24 Apr 1870 Bristo St,,,Edinburgh,Scotland 
[10, 11, 12, 13] Gender Male Death 11 Jan 1959 Bizana,Pondoland,South Africa., [10, 12, 14, 15, 16] Person ID I232 My Genealogy Last Modified 16 Apr 2026 | Edit
Father William Carey (Carrie) Thompson, b. 11 Nov 1837, ,,Scotland., d. 16 May 1909, Crail,,Scotland., (Age 71 years) Mother Jessie (Jesse) Mather, b. 15 Feb 1843, Edinburgh,Midlothian,Scotland., d. 6 Nov 1921, Edinburgh,Midlothian,Scotland., (Age 78 years) Marriage 1 Jan 1867 St Andrews Auckland Church,Co Durham/ South Church,Bishop Auckland,Durham, - Married Jessie Mather, [born Edinburgh 1843], Spinster,
in St Andrews Auckland Church, Co Durham - info from Ian Thompson.
Details from Birth Certificate of George Batchin Thompson- digital copy in Thompson file
Family ID F79 Group Sheet | Family Chart
Family Elizabeth (Lizzie) Lundie, b. 1 Aug 1878, Adelaide,Cape of Good Hope,South Africa., d. 4 Feb 1964, Springs,Transvaal,South Africa., (Age 85 years) Marriage 29 Mar 1899 Willowvale,South Africa 
Bizana Thompsons
_TYPE: PHOTOTM5.jpg
_TYPE: PHOTOChildren 1. Theodore William "Willy" Lundie Thompson, b. 31 Aug 1900, Bizana,Pondoland,South Africa., d. 2 Dec 1901, Bizana,Pondoland,South Africa., (Age 1 year)2. Kathleen Mather "Kay" "Kathy" Thompson, b. 8 Mar 1902, Bizana,Pondoland,South Africa., d. 5 Jul 1991, Cape Town,Cape of Good Hope,South Africa., (Age 89 years)3. George Best Thompson, b. 3 Feb 1904, Bizana,Pondoland,South Africa., d. 17 Sep 1977, Cape Town,Cape of Good Hope,South Africa., (Age 73 years)4. Ronald Ian Thompson, b. 4 Apr 1906, Bizana,Pondoland,South Africa., d. 24 Mar 1985 (Age 78 years)5. Henry "Harry" Arnold Thompson, b. 19 Feb 1908, Bizana,Pondoland,South Africa., d. 5 Aug 1970, Johanesburg,Transvaal,South Africa (Age 62 years)6. Evangeline "Eva" Jessie Alice Thompson, b. 16 Oct 1909, Bizana,Pondoland,South Africa., d. Abt Jun 2002, Johanesburg,Transvaal,South Africa (Age 92 years)7. David Lundie Thompson, b. 25 Jul 1911, Bizana,Pondoland,South Africa., d. 1985, Fish Hoek,Cape Town,South Africa., (Age 73 years)8. Mary Elizabeth Thompson, b. 13 Feb 1914, Bizana,Pondoland,South Africa., d. 8 Jul 1998, Cape Town,Cape of Good Hope,South Africa., (Age 84 years)9. Francis "Frank" Goodhope Thompson, b. 30 Oct 1915, Bizana,Pondoland,South Africa., d. 7 Jun 1999, Howick,Natal,South Africa., (Age 83 years)10. Winifred "Winnie" Faith Thompson, b. 17 Feb 1918, Bizana,Pondoland,South Africa., d. 4 Jul 2005, Prince Albert,Cape,South Africa (Age 87 years)11. Andrew Osmund Thompson, b. 16 Feb 1920, Bizana,Pondoland,South Africa., d. 28 Jun 2016, Margate,Natal,South Africa., (Age 96 years)12. Dr. Douglas Theophilus Thompson, MD., B.Sc., MB, Ch.B.(CT), FRCS (Edin.), b. 7 Mar 1922, Bizana,Pondoland,South Africa., d. 6 Mar 2013, Edinburgh,Midlothian,Scotland., (Age 90 years)Family ID F78 Group Sheet | Family Chart Last Modified 3 Apr 2020 | Edit
- Married Jessie Mather, [born Edinburgh 1843], Spinster,
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Photos George Batchin Thompson, MOH, Bizana
_TYPE: PHOTOGeorge Batchin Thompson
_TYPE: PHOTOOBE 1
_TYPE: PHOTOOBE2
_TYPE: PHOTOOBE3
_TYPE: PHOTOOBE4
_TYPE: PHOTOOBE5
_TYPE: PHOTOLetter to Dr Buchanan
_TYPE: DOCTwo Visits to Arbroath
_TYPE: DOCThe History of the Huts at Thompson's Beach
_TYPE: DOCGeorge and Lizzie's Romance
_TYPE: DOCSeaside Holidays 1906-08
_TYPE: DOCGrandpa in trouble with the Law
_TYPE: DOCMr Coster
_TYPE: DOCA 19th Century Laptop Computer
_TYPE: DOC
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Notes - PRIVATE
- George was born at 1 Bristo Street, Edinburgh. The 1871 English Census shows him living with his parents in Brampton, Cumberland, England, where his father was a tailor. A few years later the family moved to Alloa, Clackmannanshire, Scotland where he grew up. At the age of 17-18 years he worked as a trainee teacher in Aloa until he won a scholarship to attend Edinburgh University in the Education Department. Later he transferred to Medicine. Diaries from this period still exist.
His official qualifications are: Lic.R.Coll.Phys., Lic.R.Coll.Surg., Edin 1893 Lic. Fac. Phys Surg. Glasg., 1893.
Source: License to practice as a medical practitioner in the Cape of Good Hope. Dept of the Interior. Cape. Issued 19 June 1896. [Digital Copy in G.B.Thompons File]
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«/i»Under the auspices of the United Free Presbyterian Church George went to Calabar as a missionary doctor after he graduated. The young doctor was given a farewell by is friends at the Young Men's Fellowship Association in Alloa in February 1894 shortly before he left for Calabar.
[Source: "Presentation to Dr. G.B. Thompson", Alloa Journal 24/2/1894 pg 3 ]
He worked as assistant to Mary Slessor in Calabar from 1894-1895. A letter from Mary Slessor is among those to have survived. Take a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Slessor. Unfortunately no diaries have survived this period.
George took ill of tropical diseases, notably malaria, returned to Scotland for treatment, leaving most of his possessions behind and was so ill he was sent to SA for recuperation. Letters survive from this period to missionary officials in Calabar. From a letter that George wrote it would appear that he went to South Africa expecting to be recognized as a missionary but was disappointed when funding ceased.
Documents have survived that record that George was registered to practice as a doctor in the Cape from 19 June 1896. His first position with the Cape Department of Health was as District Surgeon in Kentani where he purchased a house and a surgery. During this period he visited the nearby mission stations including Malan Mission about 45 miles away.In his diary of 1923 the commented on Sunday November,1923,«b» "«/b»«i»About 27 years since first met «b»Lizzie"«/b»«/i». She was 18 yrs old.
George's cryptic, brief, entries in his 1897 diary, record the visits he made to Malan Mission and the letters he wrote to Lizzie Lundie, among other items. The entry for 22«sup»nd«/sup» Nov 1897 states "give Lizzie ring"- presumably an engagement ring. The diary also shows the great distances which he rode to the various missions and clinics that year, and his relations with the Auld family and others.
Following the wedding at Malan Mission on 29 Mar 1899, George and Lizzie trekked by ox-wagon to Bizana in Pondoland, where they settled and had 12 children. The eldest, Willie, died as a toddler, a tragedy which haunted his father who took great care of the health of his remaining children. Among the papers that survived were the records of the temperatures he recorded for each of his children over many years, and kept all his life.
In 1899 he was appointed District Surgeon for Bizana in Eastern Pondoland. [This document has survived.] Records in the Cape Archives attest to the confrontations George had with the local magistrate which lead to his being offered the post of District Surgeon in Bizana or resigning, for the magistrate, being the government's official representative, could not be seen to lose face in front of the local inhabitants, tribal and white.
George's prickly manner irritated the magistrate in Bizana as documents in the Cape Archives attest, and his assessments were often ignored as a result, only to be attested to by later visiting officials.
Lived through the Boer War as a doctor in Bizana. See DSCN9326- 93XX.
At the age of 45 he volunteered his services during the 1914-1918 War, working at Robert's Heights in Pretoria, and Wynberg Military Hospital in the Cape as a doctor, then returned to Bizana where he organized numerous fundraising activities for which he was awarded an MBE on 3rd June, 1919. Letters to and from his children during this period survive.
Throughout his life he enforced a strict, unassailable routine, and strict observance to his form of religious life on all his family, which led to great unhappiness for them all. Things only relaxed a little when the family went to the seaside camp that consisted of several native huts but grandly called "Holiday Resorts" in the official documents. The family camp on the Umtentwana lagoon, near the Umtamvuna River was the centre of family life, and continued way past his lifetime until it was expropriated for the construction of the Wild Coast Casino in 1980.
As part of George's religious observance he insisted that the native servants attend the family devotions where both English and Xhosa hymns were sung, and for many years to teaching the numerous domestics to read and write. He and Lizzie also took regular Sunday School classes where George's martinet methods were used. Surprisingly some of his former students have told me that he was a kind Sunday School master in spite of his high expectations.
Apparently each of his children were given responsibilities to contribute to the family well being. Ian Thompson told me that his father, Ronald, was the family cobbler. GBT taught him all he could then ordered books by mail-order so that Ronald could learn further. He also taught him carpentry skills which Ronald in turn taught Ian. Although they employed Xhosa servants, life was hard, and they were always poor so every minute of the children's lives was filled either with gardening/farming [a lot of trenching and chopping down trees for fuel] or with extra study after school.
The «b»«i»Who's Who in Natal «/b»«/i»of 1933 has the following entry:
«i»George Batchin Thompson, M.B.E. Born 24 April 1870, in Edinburgh. Son of late William Carey Thompson. Educated Edinburgh University and Medical School. L.R.C.P., L.R.C.S Edin,. L.R.F.P.S Glasgow, 1893. formerly Medical Missionary, Old Calabar, Nigeria. Came to S.A. in 1896. District Surgeon, Lusikisiki, Kentani and Bizana. Married, 1899, Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. John Lundie, M.A., of Willowvale, C.P. 11 children. Recreation: Gardening. Address: Bizana, Pondoland East.
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*The MBE medal and accompanying documentation is in the possession activities Basil Thompson who kindly provided digital photographs.
** To be verified. The mission in Calabar and the mission stations at Malan et al were under the auspices of the Free Presbyterian Church or Scotland...
Lived through the Boer War as a doctor in Bizana. See DSCN9326- 93XX
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Sources - [S1064] 1881 Scottish Census, Parish: Alloa; ED: 2; Line: 19; Year: 1881. (Reliability: 3).
- [S305] Genealogiese Instituut van Suid-Afrika, editor, Suid-Afrikaanse Geslagregisters. Deel 13 (T - U), (Stellenbosch, South Africa.: Genealogiese Instituut van Suid-Afrika, 2006.), 13: p.176. (Reliability: 3).
- [S298] East London and Frontier Red Book, (East London [South Africa]), 1909 (Reliability: 3).
- [S305] Genealogiese Instituut van Suid-Afrika, editor, Suid-Afrikaanse Geslagregisters. Deel 13 (T - U), (Stellenbosch, South Africa.: Genealogiese Instituut van Suid-Afrika, 2006.) (Reliability: 3).
- [S304] 1891 Scottish Census, 1891 Scotland Census (Reliability: 3).
- [S303] 1881 Scottish Census, Parish: Alloa; ED: 2; Line: 19; Year: 1881. (Reliability: 3).
- [S1065] 1891 Scottish Census, 1891 Scotland Census (Reliability: 3).
- [S216] 1871 England Census, ED, institution, or vessel: 4f (Reliability: 3).
- [S983] 1871 England Census, (ancestry.ca), ED, institution, or vessel: 4f (Reliability: 3).
- [S992] Peter Turner, Information received from Peter Turner.
- [S306] Thompson, George Batchin. Birth certificate (Reliability: 3).
- [S83] Peter Turner, Information received from Peter Turner.
- [S1066] Thompson, George Batchin. Birth certificate (Reliability: 3).
- [S1067] Lundie, Elizabeth. Death Notice (Reliability: 3).
- [S308] Thompson Family Bible, "Deaths" (Reliability: 3).
- [S307] Lundie, Elizabeth. Death Notice (Reliability: 3).
- [S1064] 1881 Scottish Census, Parish: Alloa; ED: 2; Line: 19; Year: 1881. (Reliability: 3).
