customs and whaling officer, was born on 21 December 1891 at Stoke Ferry, Norfolk, England to Thomas William Rumbolds (1864-1943) and Maude Rumbolds (née Maude Rose Weedon; 1865-1935). He was educated at Walsingham Board School, in north Norfolk.

Rumbolds emigrated to the Falkland Islands where he was employed as a shepherd in the Camp. On 10 February 1919 he married 22-year-old Mary Ellen ‘May’ Johnson (born 6 November 1896), at Christ Church Cathedral by Governor’s license by J Stanley Smith, clerk in holy orders. The witnesses were Mary Rattley and George Rattley. His father was recorded as Thomas William Rumbolds, soldier, and Mary’s father was recorded as George Frederick Johnson, foreman. May tragically died, aged 25, on 19 April 1922 from pulmonary tuberculosis and was buried on Saunders Island, West Falkland. The Rumbolds had one son – Robert William – (1919-1982).

William Rumbolds was appointed a customs and whaling officer on 20 December 1923 to serve at South Georgia and elsewhere in the Dependencies as required. He was recorded as being five feet, seven and a half inches tall, with grey eyes and black hair. His annual salary was £150 plus a £50 duty allowance and his uniform was also provided. He travelled to South Georgia by way of the Compañia Argentina de Pesca’s barque Tijuca which arrived at Stanley on 28 March 1924 and sailed on the same day. Tijuca arrived in South Georgia 3 April 1924 and Rumbolds took up his duties immediately, reporting to magistrate Edward BINNIE. Among his appointed duties he was reported as having responsibility for monitoring the whaling expedition fleet of the Norwegian company A/S Tønsbergs Hvalfangeri at the South Orkney Islands, taking passage on board their factory ship Orwell.

On 1 January 1926 Rumbolds was appointed assistant customs officer, South Georgia but still with responsibility for the South Orkney Islands during the whaling season. On 10 May 1927 he was appointed acting customs officer to cover for the leave of absence of Walter Stuart. In 1928 he took a leave of absence at the close of the whaling season and accompanied his son Robert William to England. Rumbolds’ last recorded season at the South Orkney Islands was in 1929/30 whereafter he was based at South Georgia. At this time, he was receiving an annual salary of £162 as assistant customs officer and £168 from 1 January 1931. In May 1931 he requested that the sum of £5 a month be deducted from his salary and paid to his mother residing at Hungerford, Berkshire.

Rumbolds was appointed customs officer, South Georgia, on probation for a year from 1 October 1932 on an annual salary of £200 rising by annual increments of £10 to £240 a year. His appointment was confirmed in April 1934. At about this time he married Kaste Mary Rolfe, probably in the United Kingdom. On 18 June 1935 he requested permission for his wife to reside with him at South Georgia, although there is no record of this being approved. In October 1935, she was living at Newbury, Berkshire. In March 1937 and again in March 1938 Rumbolds was appointed officer-in-charge and justice of the peace during the absence of the magistrate, William BARLAS. In October 1939 he returned to Stanley and was trained as a Lewis gunner for anti-aircraft defence at South Georgia, returning in March 1940.

In October 1941 Rumbolds applied for the post of magistrate, South Georgia following the untimely death of William Barlas on 2 September 1941 but was unsuccessful. The appointed magistrate, Arthur Isadore FLEURET requested in August 1942 that Rumbolds be removed from office as he was ‘unreliable, indiscreet, most untruthful and inefficient in execution of his duty. He also lacked aptitude. Moreover, he carried no weight as an official and was given to bouts of insobriety.’ In August 1945 Rumbolds applied for leave at the end of the 1946 whaling season and to retire on pension residing in England. He sailed from South Georgia on 19 April 1946 on board Salvesen’s transport ship Saluta bound for the United Kingdom and took up residence in Newbury, Berkshire. His pensionable service from 20 December 1923 to 4 June 1947 was a total of 23 years, 5 months and 16 days. He received a pension of £158.

William Rumbolds died on 25 November 1969 aged 77 years. He was survived by his wife.

Additional note:

William Charles Rumbolds’ younger brother Robert Henry Rumbolds (born 16 January 1894) also worked as a shepherd in the Falkland Islands. He joined the FIDF in August 1914 and was on active service during World War I. He worked at Teal Inlet from circa 1920 and for the next 22 years. He married Gertrude Maude Davis on 22 August 1921 at Christ Church Cathedral. In 1939 he was promoted to sergeant in the FIDF. From November 1943 he was attached to the Quartermaster’s Department where his duties included the care and issuing of stores, clothing and equipment. In January 1950 he worked for the Public Works Department, Stanley. Robert and his wife emigrated to Australia in 1952. He died in Victor Harbour, South Australia.