His father Archibald died in 1905 in Johannesburg (not Rhodesia as stated on Thomas's Wikipedia entry, nor 1903 as stated on his statutory declaration). His surviving spouse is given as Linda Martyn nee Taylor.
Thomas stated that he was with his mother Elizabeth in the south of England when his father died, about to board ship for South Africa.
So, who was Linda Taylor?
Searching South African records is not easy, as many have not been digitized.
However, I was finally able to locate a marriage between Archibald Martyn and Linda Taylor (born 1878) on 7 May 1904 at Johannesburg.
Clearly this was 'Elizabeth' but which was her real name?
A search of the South African Government Archives[1] revealed a number of documents relating to the divorce of Archibald and Mabel, and a subsequent failed prosecution of Archibald.
The court documents were obtained for a small fee via the eGGSA.[2]
I had already discovered documents suggesting that Thomas's mother was Elizabeth Taylor. Archibald was the father but he had married Mabel Bloxsome around the time of Thomas's birth.
Examination of the South African Court documents finally allowed me to confirm these suspicions and piece together Thomas's early history. They also gave an insight into his character and help explain his later tendency to bend the truth.
In 1902 Archibald returned briefly to Cornwall after service in the Boer War. During the same year he returned with Mabel to the Transvaal and took up the position of District Roads Inspector in Potchefstroom. A letter from a PWD official recommending him states that he had been educated at Harrow. This was clearly untrue. It also said he passed the Surveyors Institute examination. This is contrary to the Freemasons records and newspaper article indicating he was at agricultural college. He did however give his occupation as civil engineer on his marriage certificate and military record.
Other statements regarding his experience are suspect. It should be noted that Mabels brother was employed by the PWD (with surname misspelt 'Blossom').
Archibald was subsequently charged with defrauding the PWD between May and July 1903. The dates are significant. He fled to the Portuguese colony of Mozambique and was arrested in Delagoa Bay (Maputo Bay) in September from where he was extradited to Johannesburg. He was acquitted of the charges. His flight from justice obviously implied guilt. An internal enquiry concluded that the prosecutor was inexperienced and inept.
Archibald and Mabel divorced in October 1903. The divorce papers add further background to this period.
They allege that between June and August 1903 Archibald committed adultery in the Grand National Hotel in Johannesburg and elsewhere with one 'Lena' Taylor (later known as Linda Taylor).
It seems most likely that this is Elizabeth Taylor, who had placed Thomas in the boarding school in Brighton while she travelled to South Africa. It also indicates that Archibald had kept in touch with Elizabeth since Thomas's birth. Thomas later stated that Archibald had written to him whilst at boarding school.
The papers state that in August 1903 Archibald left the Transvaal and deserted his wife (when he fled to Mozambique with 'Lena Taylor').
Archibald made an unsuccessful claim for compensation for wrongful prosecution.
Archibald was deemed to have deserted his wife Mabel in August 1903 when he fled to Mozambique and she divorced him in November 1903. According to South African documents she re-married George Walrond, another Boar War veteran in December 1903. His war documents give December 1904 as the date of marriage.
As stated previously, Archibald and 'Linda Taylor' married in May 1904 in Johannesburg. But is this a false name given by Elizabeth Taylor to cover her adultery, or her real name? She clearly returned to Thomas in England after the marriage.
The marriage did not last long. Archibald died of pneumonia in Johannesburg in October 1905.
As an aside, the South African archives revealed a widow called Eliza Martyn, whose husband came from Cornwall. He had died in about 1891. She made a claim for compensation for property lost during the Boer war. Her surname and origins in Cornwall suggest a possible family connection to Archibald.
They also identified the Taylor family, who lived in Salt River. Joseph Taylor was the local vicar and was married to Louisa Vavasour, aunt of Nigel Vavasour. As we shall see, Nigel married Elizabeth Martyn following Archibalds death. Coincidence or the source of the false name?
Linda Martyn/Elizabeth Taylor was now a widow with no employment and a child to raise. She seems to have wasted little time in establishing a relationship with Nigel Vavasour, another former Boer war veteran.
The Vavasour family came from Ashby-de-la-Zouch and were well connected. Primarily clergy, they had close family links to Sir Frederick Shaw, Sir Nigel Gresley, Sir George Bannerman and the Brooke family of Brooke-Bond tea fame. Elizabeth may have met Nigel during her time in South Africa.
Following the Boer War, Canada, eager to populate, offered free land to veterans of the War. Nigel seized this opportunity and travelled to Canada with Elizabeth some time before 1908 (dates vary but one passenger list states 1904, another 1906), settling in Salmon Arm, B.C.
Thomas was left in the UK with 'grandma Vavasour'. He sailed to Canada unaccompanied in 1908. Canadian Pacific documents show that CPR officials escorted him to his destination: Golden Ranch, run by Frank Nicholson. Frank was a famous jockey and operated the local stage coach. He was also a Boer War veteran.
Nigel and 'Elizabeth Martyn' married in Salmon Arm in May 1909. She gave the names 'Julia Sutton' and 'Alfred Wright' as her parents. Both patently false. Frank Nicholson and his wife were witnesses.
Farming in Salmon Arm was clearly not to their liking and by the 1911 census the family were in Calgary (Nigel and Elizabeth Vavasour, and stepson 'Thomas Martin, born 1896', all shown as emigrating in 1906).
Nigel and Elizabeth were still in Calgary, shown as farmers, in 1921.
Nigel served with the Canadian 113th Battalion in WW1. Whilst stepson Thomas pulled the Vavasour family strings to obtain a commission and transfer to the RFC it is notable that Nigel remained in the ranks.
Elizabeth died in Vancouver 1936 and Nigel in Vancouver in 1952.
2. Genealogical Society of South Africa