Swallow, Thomas (1827 - 1890)

Summary

Thomas Swallow began manufacturing ships' biscuits in 1854. In the same year he went into partnership with Thomas Swallow and by 1880 they had a large factory making a range of cakes and biscuits.

He also founded a sugar plantation in Cairns in 1881. It was taken over by the Colonial Sugar Refining Company in 1897.

Details

Born Reading, Berkshire, England, 1827. Died Cairns, 26 June 1890. Arrived Australia 1853; sold Colt revolvers, Ballarat goldfields; ships' biscuit manufacturer 1854; took in Thomas Ariell as partner 1854 and F.T. Derham 1877; public company from 1888; founded Hambledon sugar plantation near Cairns 1881 (taken over by the Colonial Sugar Refining Company 1897). Mayor of Sandridge (Port Melbourne) for several terms till 1875; Volunteer Artillery, retiring with the honorary rank of major October 1884.

Published resources

Book Sections

• Bolton, G.C., 'Swallow, Thomas (1827-1890), manufacturer' in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Bede Nairn, ed., vol. 6 (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1976), p. 230. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A060247b.htm. Details
• Swallow, Thomas, 'A New Powder for Refining or Clarifying Saccharine Juices (Patent No. 1,774, 16 February 1886)' in Index to New South Wales Letters of Registration of Inventions, 1854 to July 1887 (Sydney: Government Printer, 1891). Details

Resources

• 'Swallow, Thomas (1827-1890)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1465272. Details

See also

• Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/index_s.html. Details
• McCann, Joy; Churchward, Matthew, Victorian steampower : an illustrated social history (Melbourne, Vic.: Victoria Press, 1994), 179 pp. pp.64-65. Details