Thomas Hill Dixon
| Thomas Hill Dixon | |
|---|---|
| 1st Superintendent of Convicts for Western Australia | |
|
In office 1850–1859 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
20 February 1816 Isle of Man |
| Died | 30 January 1880 (aged 63) Staunton Springs, Australia |
Thomas Hill Dixon (20 February 1816 – 30 January 1880) was the first Superintendent of Convicts in Western Australia. Together with his superior, the Comptroller General Edmund Henderson, he created a reforming, humane convict regime for Western Australia. Recognition of his achievements has however been eroded by his later indictment on charges of embezzling public moneys.
Thomas Dixon was born on the Isle of Man on 20 February 1816. The son of an innkeeper, he was given a good education, and at the age of eighteen went to Glasgow to study medicine at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary. By this time, however, his father had died and the family hotel was being run by his mother and older brother. After only six months in Glasgow, Dixon was forced to return home to take the place of his brother, who had fallen seriously ill and would die shortly afterwards. There, he continued to pursue an interest in medicine, spending five years as a pupil of a local doctor.
By 1837, Dixon was married to a woman named Eliza Fennella (née Cooke). That year, his mother died and Dixon inherited her estate, only to find that his mother was in such debt that her assets barely covered the costs of her funeral. Pursued by her creditors, Dixon and his wife fled the island.
In 1840, when their first daughter was born, they were in Liverpool, but they did not remain there long. In August 1842 the family moved to London, where Dixon joined the Metropolitan Police Force. In 1843 a second daughter was born. Some time afterwards, Dixon's wife left him, for reasons unknown.
In 1847, Dixon applied for a position in the Convict Service. His application was eventually successful, and in 1850 he was appointed Superintendent of Convicts for the Swan River Colony, which had just been declared a penal colony. Dixon traveled to the colony with the first convicts on board the Scindian. Traveling with him were his two children and his "wife". Shortly after their arrival at Fremantle, Dixon's wife was banished to Toodyay "for the good of the Service". As no record of Dixon's second marriage has been found, Stebbing (1999) argues that his wife's banishment from Fremantle is most likely attributable to "her exposure as Dixon's common-law wife and not the mother of his children".
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