Thompson (née Ensor), Florence (c. 1882 - )

Florence was born in South Africa where her father was an ostrich farmer. She arrived in Sydney with her family, as one of seven children, in 1882. Her father and two elder brothers selected farming land at Graman, near Inverell. She and her brother attended school by riding four miles to Inverell on horseback.

She was sent to school in later years to the Burwood Methodist Ladies College in Sydney. She returned to the New England district to teach her brother's three daughters at Ben Lomond.

Florence established a Methodist Sunday School near Ben Lomond and thus began 50 years' continuous Sunday School teaching. After her brother moved his family to Queensland she moved to Sydney and was asked to join the staff of the Central Methodist Mission. She engaged in missionary work among the poor of Sydney in the slums and factories.

She married Robert Pittendrigh just before he left for Gallipoli, where he subsequently died in action. She then worked in Cessnock during the influenza epidemic, leaving the day the war ended.

Florence then married John Thompson and subsequently began a Sunday School in Seaforth, near Manly, and was the originating force in establishing a church and school hall where she was invited to lay the foundation stone.

[Brief Biography compiled by Robin Hammond, January/February 2004]