Buckle, William

William Buckle was a British sailor who (presumably) jumped ship and arrived in the Santa Cruz area in the first half of the 1820s (he is identified in Mexican-era records as Guillermo Bocle). Seven years later, his brother Samuel found him after a long search, and the two remained in the area, inexplicably changing their last name to Thompson, and acquiring a homesite on the Mission Plaza - land that is now part of Holy Cross School. As "Thompson", William served as 2nd alcalde in 1847.

• Wm. Buckle married Maria Antonia Castro y Montero (1811-1877) and, in 1838, received the Rancho Carbonera land grant (as Guillermo Bocle).
• "The Official Survey of Santa Cruz", Santa Cruz Sentinel, June 23, 1866, 2:4.
• History Pages: 6 - The Sailors
• History Pages: 39 - What's in a Name? – Adventures in Spelling
• Stanley D. Stevens, The Alcaldes of Branciforte-Santa Cruz (1802-1850), SCPL
• The Sidewalk Companion to Santa Cruz Architecture (4th ed. 2023), Chapter Four, p88.
• Rowland wrote that the Buckle brothers arrived in Santa Cruz in 1824, and were both part of a foraging party from ships commanded by Thomas Cochrane. This story, however, is hard to reconcile with other sources.