Obituaries Australia

Thomas Frederick Tapper was born in Fremantle, Western Australia at 5.30am on the 9th March, 1856. Thomas was baptised in the Church of England, Fremantle and he was also baptised in the Methodist Church on 28th November 1861.

Thomas’s grandparents were Daniel and Ann Tapper (nee Norris) who emigrated from Britain to the Swan River Colony as part of the Thomas Peel Estate. They travelled aboard the ship Rockingham arriving off Garden Island in heavy weather on May 13, 1830. Daniel and Ann Tapper’s fifth child was John Tapper who was born in Fremantle, Western Australia on 7th August 1833. John married Mary Ann Abbs Cook on the 27th April 1853 in St John’s Church, Fremantle.

Thomas Frederick Tapper was the second son and second child of John and Mary Ann Tapper. Thomas married 1st to Matilda Delmage the daughter of Jacob Delmage and Lucy Tapper. Lucy was the sister of John Tapper so Thomas and Matilda were cousins. They were married on 11th January, 1877 in Northam, Western Australia. Thomas and Matilda had 11 children: Frederick, Thomas, Walter, John, Francis, Percival, Nelson, Albert, Iris, Olive and Richard.

Matilda died in 1912 and Thomas Frederick hired a widow to look after his children. The widow was Margaret Luff (nee Green) who had 8 children of her own. In July 1912 Thomas and Margaret married and had a son, Clarence Tapper.

On the 7th April 1945 Thomas Frederick Tapper died aged 89. At the time of his death 6 of his 12 children had predeceased him. He is buried in Karrakatta Cemetery in Fremantle, Western Australia.