Tommy Delong

Thomas (Tommy) was born in China in 1808. He married at the age of twenty in China and had a son and a daughter. Thirteen years later he decided to try his luck and seek his fortune in Australia, arriving in Sydney in 1842. He worked at Booling Station for five years before travelling to the Rocky River goldfield where he panned for gold for three years.

In 1850, Tommy traveled on the 'Emma' to Moreton Bay and he established a business at Little Ipswich (now West Ipswich). He moved to Waghorn Street until the land was resumed for railway purposes and then went on to be a chef on the steamers that traveled the Bremer River.

He was to marry another two times, soon after arriving in Ipswich he married and had two children. After the death of his wife he married Mary Ann Walsh in 1896. His main occupation was as a shopkeeper and even in his nineties he was doing general odd jobs.