Thomas was a crew member on the whaling ship 'Maraboo' which had left London on the 12 September 1833 bound for Macassar. Due to the illness of the ship's captain, it made a chance call to the Swan River Colony on the 2 March 1834. Thomas asked permission to stay and the 'Maraboo' departed on the 14 April minus the 22 year old. He was 30 years old and a widower when he married Sarah Strickland (daughter of Robert and Mary) 22 December 1842 at Perth. Sarah had come out to the Colony on the ship 'Hooghly' as a seven year old along with her parents Robert and Mary Strickland and her five siblings. Thomas appears to have had many occupations, including carpenter, builder, undertaker, contractor, auctioneer, appraiser and commission agent and had premises situated on the corner of Hay and William Sts Perth. Surrounded by his family, Thomas died on the evening of Sunday 2 October 1887 at his residence in Hay Street. He was buried at the East Perth Cemetery, however his remains were exhumed and reburied with his wife in the Congregational Section of the Karrakatta Cemetery. Sarah died on the 21 January 1905 at the age of 83 years.