Seeking new opportunities and the chance to own land, in 1835 Thomas and his wife Ann, with their two tiny children, made the long trip from Thanet to Liverpool and then across the Atlantic Ocean to New York. Then followed a journey of 470 miles across country by covered wagon until they arrived in Wyandot County, Ohio.
Sydney Hubert Emptage
Sydney was a law clerk in Margate and was great friends with his older cousin, Herbert George Robins who lived and worked in South Africa. He jumped at the chance when Herbert asked him to join him in South Africa, to help run his game reserve. However, as the war in Europe progressed, he joined the Royal Engineers Signal Unit.
William Daubney Emptage
William lied about his age when he joined the Kent Militia and then the 3rd Battalion East Kent “The Buffs” Regiment. He was a career soldier, serving in South Africa, Persia and Singapore. When he left the army he settled in Singapore where he married.
Alice Eva Emptage
Alice married in 1883, just before her sixteenth birthday and two years later she and her husband emigrated to Illinois, USA. Having given birth to a boy in 1886, Alice was to die in 1893, aged just 25.
Foundering of the Rossgull
A maritime disaster off the coast of Jersey in December 1900. One of the crew aboard the steamship Rossgull was Elijah Jarman Emptage.
Presentation of medals
Six members of the Emptage family took part in the rescue attempt of the crew of the Northern Belle in January 1857. Two lost their lives and three received medals at an earlier event. Now it was Alfred Emptage’s turn to receive his medal at a ceremony where special mention was made of his bravery.