Tag Archives: Old Tom

Other “D” stories – Dundalli, Davis and Dowse.

James Davis “Duramboi.” James Davis (1808-1889) was a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside a forbidding, taciturn man. A blacksmith’s son from Glasgow, James Davis was convicted as a teenager of “theft, habit and repute” (a thief who associates with other thieves) in 1824 and transported to New South Wales on the Minstrel. He wasContinue reading “Other “D” stories – Dundalli, Davis and Dowse.”

Strange Trick of the Imagination

(From our Windmill Reporter.) On Wednesday last, the Tide Surveyor of Customs* happened to be strolling down Queen Street, pondering probably on the great degeneracy of the present age, so far as regards the desire to drink grog without paying the duty, and whistling to himself the popular air of “Will Watch, the bold smuggler,Continue reading “Strange Trick of the Imagination”

Stories Behind the Corner

Memorable Characters from Old Tom’s Story of the Old Times Some of Old Tom’s friends and acquaintances – Tom O’Neil and Johnny Hamilton – passed through the Colony without making much impact on the news of the day. No doubt they were great friends and unique characters, but their activities did not incur much publicContinue reading “Stories Behind the Corner”

Old Tom’s Reminiscences – The Corner

First published in the Brisbane Courier, Saturday 21 August 1869. As I have before remarked, the settlement, as regards house accommodation, consisted entirely of the various buildings erected under the authority and inspection of the Government officials during the penal times. But it was naturally anticipated that the purchasers of the land sold at theContinue reading “Old Tom’s Reminiscences – The Corner”

Old Tom’s Reminiscences

Part 1 of Tom Dowse’s Memories of Old Brisbane (Originally published in the Queenslander on 24 July 1869. IN those days—happily long since passed away—when the parent colony of the Australian group enjoyed the unenviable distinction of being the only penal settlement on the shores of New Holland, it was found from time to timeContinue reading “Old Tom’s Reminiscences”

Old Tom journeys through Brisbane – September 18, 1870.

A DAY AMONGST THE DOUGHBOYS.  (BY OLD TOM.) On 18 September, 1870, the Brisbane Courier published a guide to Doughboy Creek (now called Bulimba Creek). Old Tom was the nom de plume of Tom Dowse, a former convict, who arrived in Brisbane Town at the time of free settlement and who went on to aContinue reading “Old Tom journeys through Brisbane – September 18, 1870.”