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Thomas Dowse, convict Queenslander

About the convict

The writer's recollections of the days of Auld Lang Syne, dates back to the year 1827 – when a boy in his teens, he landed upon the shores of Port Jackson, in the despised colony of New South Wales – more familiarly known in the Old Country as Botany Bay.
Thomas Dowse's memoirs OM79-68/17
Portrait of Thomas Dowse, a caucasian man with a large whispy beard and cropped hair with a cowlick at the front. He is wearing an 1800's suit.
Role: Town Clerk of Brisbane
Born: 1809, Hackney, England
Convicted: 16 September 1824 in Middlesex
Sentence: Transportation for life (originally sentenced to death)
Ship: Florentia
Transported: Arrived in New South Wales on 3 January 1828
Died: 9 November 1885 in Milton, Brisbane. Buried in Toowong Cemetery.
Notes: Ticket of Leave issued on 6 April 1836
Conditional Pardon issued in 1839
When the present Queensland was Moreton Bay, he was always in the front of every political movement, and indefatigable in co-operating to achieve our separation from New South Wales.
The Telegraph (Brisbane), 10 November 1885

Further reading