The
story about Ben Thompson, the Knottingley born gun-slinger who became a
famous lawman, which appeared in ‘The Express’ on March 5th created a
lot of interest among Knottingley people. I find that descendants of the
original Thompson family still live in Knottingley and I have discovered
how many people have conflicting ideas of Thompson’s birthplace and
where he worked in Knottingley.
Mrs
Mary Dearden, aged 50, of Broomhill Square, Knottingley, tells me that Ben
Thompson was her great-uncle. She said "I am proud to say that Ben
Thompson still has descendants living in Knottingley - myself, my sister,
Mrs Ivy Aaron, and my brothers, Mr. Leonard Knapton and Mr. Charles
Knapton."
Mr.
Charles Knapton, now retired, was a detective sergeant in Oxford City
Police. Mrs Dearden says; "Ben Thompson was my mother’s uncle, so
he was our great-uncle. My mother used to tell us that he went to Texas as
a young man, and she was told by her mother, Ben Thompson’s sister, who
stayed in Knottingley when the family emigrated, that he was shot in the
back in a Texas saloon when somebody switched the lights off."
Mrs
Dearden believes the Thompson spirit and wanderlust still exists in her
family. She also says that the family have Ben Thompson’s concern for
law and order. Her eldest brother, now deceased, was Inspector George
Knapton of the West Riding Constabulary; another brother was in his
younger days a member of Birmingham City Police. "My son Paul must
have the wanderlust, because on leaving school he joined the Merchant
Navy. He travelled all over the world until he married and settled in
Knottingley for a few years before emigrating to Australia. There is a bit
of Ben Thompson in all of us, in one form or other, and I for one am proud
of him. I am also proud to have been born in Knottingley where many good
men have been born who have fought for their country, especially at
sea." adds Mrs Deardon.
