Thomas Prior
| Town/City | Natimuk |
|---|---|
| First name | Thomas |
| Last name | Prior |
| Country of Origin | Cornwall, England |
| Date of Birth | 1/7/1804 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1849 |
| Submitted by | Robyn Smallacombe |
Story
Thomas and his wife Catherine came to Australia to join their sons William and James who had already emigrated to Australia to make a new life for themselves in 1847. Thomas and Catherine departed Plymouth, England on the 19th September 1848 and travelled on the ship “William Money”. They arrived in Australia on the 3rd January 1849. They brought with them their 7 other children and on arrival they went to the Burra Mines to join their other sons William and James and here they worked in the copper mines. The journey out to Austalia was a long and arduous one and the migrants were rostered to work in the galley to help prepare the food for cooking and also to clean the mess. Male migrants were also rostered to man the manually operated pump to keep the hold free of water and to pump salt water into a tank for the women and children to wash and toilet.
In 1850 Thomas purchased land at Allen’s Creek, north of Kapunda and they built a home on Section 36 which was known as “Dutton’s Gap”. Thomas and Catherine are buried in the Allendale Cemetary, South Australia. Their sons, William and James, went to the goldfields in Victoria before returning to South Australia and taking up land. Sons Thomas, Jonathan and Edward all took up land in South Australia with Edward later moving to NSW and taking up land around Boggabri.