Thomas Bastard (1818 - 1883)

Thomas Bastard arrived in Australia with his wife and six children in 1852, working as a conductor at an Adelaide music hall before going prospecting at Forest Creek in Victoria in 1853. He became a popular music performer in the small towns surrounding the diggings, before returning to Adelaide where he worked in occupations ranging from bank clerk to swimming instructor. The Autobiography of Cockney Tom (1881) is a narrative of his life and experiences, focusing extensively on his time at the goldfields.