Tom Petrie
| Thomas Petrie | |
|---|---|
Portrait
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| Born |
31 January 1831 Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Died | 26 August 1910 (aged 79) Pine Rivers Shire |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Occupation | Grazier, explorer |
| Children | 9 |
| Parent(s) | Andrew Petrie, Mary Cuthbertson |
| Relatives | John Petrie |
Thomas Petrie (31 January 1831 – 26 August 1910) was an Australian explorer, gold prospector, logger, grazier and protector of Aborigines.
Petrie was born at Edinburgh, fourth son of Andrew Petrie and brother of John. His family travelled to Sydney, arriving in October 1831 and his father entered the government service as a supervisor of building. They moved to Moreton Bay (subsequently Brisbane) in 1837, where Thomas was educated by a convict clerk and allowed to mix freely with Aboriginal children. He learnt to speak the local language, Turrbal and was encouraged to share in all Aboriginal activities. He was witness to convicts labouring in chains on the government farms along the river and saw numerous floggings of convicts on Queen Street. Petrie was also in the crowd that watched the first hangings at the settlement in 1841, that of the aboriginal men Nungavil and Mullan at The Old Windmill. At 14 he participated in a walkabout to a feast in the Bunya Mountains. He was accepted by the Aboriginals and was often used as a messenger and invited on exploration expeditions. He also learned about surveying, bushcraft and the local geography while travelling with his father.
In 1851 Petrie prospected for gold in the Turon region of New South Wales and spent the next five years on Victorian goldfields, "finding only enough gold to make a ring". He returned to Brisbane a number of times and saw the botched public hanging of Dalla man Dundalli in 1855 at Wickham Park. Petrie married Elizabeth Campbell in 1859 and shortly after the marriage, Petrie sought the advice of a local aboriginal elder named Dalaipi for a good place to start a cattle station. Dalaipi's son, Dal-ngang showed him their ancestral land at Mandin (North Pine River) and offered it to Petrie. Dal-ngang expressed indignation when told this land had already been acquired by the Griffens as part of the Whiteside station. Petrie, after consulting with Mrs Griffen bought a ten square mile (26 km²) section of the property in the Pine Creek district and named it Murrumba, an aboriginal word meaning "good place". Aboriginals helped him to clear his land and build his farm buildings.
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