Onthe Waterfront
Thompson'sDiaspora
By H. E. Ross
The Thompson Shipping Company of Grand Caymanwas started in 1977. Though most would generally start a storyabout a company with its inception, there is nothing "general"about the people and the particular family behind the scenes andthe name of Thompson Shipping. The little shop in the old AnchorageBuilding that held the Thompson Agency is just about gone as ismost of the old waterfront at Hog Sty Bay. But, the dynamic thatcreated the shipping service is present in the genes of thosewho are running it now, and the Thompson part of those genes originatedin the Cayman Islands "sometime after 1760", accordingto George S. Hirst. A certain Thomas Thompson (probably not relatedto the Thompson Shipping Thompson's), native of Penicuik, Scotlandsettled in Prospect as a farmer. Thomas established a shippinglink to England for his produce, and in so doing brought backWilliam Thompson, who settled in George Town to head up the maritimeThompson family.
The combination apparently worked well withthe farming Thompson's providing the product and the maritimeThompson's providing the transportation of the product to foreignmarkets. Like other Caymanians the Thompson family did not remaintotally seated in the Cayman Islands but spread their family namethroughout the Western Caribbean.
Mrs. Sara Hunter Scott of Belize recountsof her great grandmother, Mary Eleanor Thompson, wife of WardMorgan, who lived on Utila Island in the Bay Islands of Honduras,"This was on her own land, land given to her by her fatherJames Darryl Thompson.
Her story continues to Robinson's Pointin Belize, established as a popular shipyard by her father, aHunter. Mrs. Scott's very interesting narrative goes on to saythat many Caymanian families go back 15 generations in the Caribbeanarea. In her family names there are Thompsons, Boddens, Hunters,Hurlstons, Kirkconnells and Hydes.
Thompson Agencies was started in 1962 byWilbur and Helen Thompson as a general shipping agency, a dutyfree shop and a super market. Helen was from a small town nearMilwaukee and Wilbur was the son of the famous turtle and cargoschooner skipper/owner, Captain Eugene Thompson. In 1977, fiveyears after her husband died, Helen Thompson made the decisionto provide a shipping line for the Cayman Islands. The time wasright with a stabilised economic boom and with Tropical Shippingcanceling their container cargo operation. They could not justifythe off-route small population in the Cayman Islands with theirexpansion routing in the Caribbean Basin.
Mrs. Helen Thompson and her daughter JoEllenchartered the 200-foot, EVI II and started the Thompson ShippingLine. In 1980 Bessie, the youngest daughter joined the company.To show the timing was right a comparison between their1977 importsvalued CI$35.7 million and 16 years later, in 1993 imports wereat CI$261 million. Ms Helen died in 1987 and Bing (Wilbur, Jr.)a commercial airline pilot, took over as General Manager. Workingprincipally out of Tampa and Miami, the Thompsons have and willservice Central American ports, which include Mexico, Honduras,Guatemala, Cuba, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
There is regular service to Cayman Bracand Little Cayman. Thompson Shipping towed the Goldfield to theBay Islands from Panama in 1983. The Central American connectionactually started in 1982 to assist concrete supply needed forthe Grand Cayman construction boom. At one time Thompson Shippingowned two ships, while chartering two ships to keep up with thedemand.
Today, Thompson Shipping owns two inter-islandstugs and leases the Helen T and the Jan Caribe cargo carriers.JoEllen, Bessie and Bing still run the company, which is responsiblefor most of the material and goods, brought to all three of theCayman Islands.
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Cayman Maritime Heritage Foundation
PO Box 11023APO
www.caymanmaritimeheritage.org
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On the Waterfront is sponsored by The Ritz-Carlon Grand Cayman:preserving Cayman's History towards a bright future