Robert Thomas' tent and rush hut, Glenelg. The hut was originally a bedroom and Mr. Thomas' daughters vacated it to make room for the printing press, on which the Proclamation of South Australia was printed.

The Thomas family brought the first printing press to South Australia from which the first South Australian newspaper was printed. Robert Thomas established the South Australian Gazette and Colonial Register , later the Register newspaper. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas were accompanied by their children. A detailed diary was kept by Mary Thomas during the voyage aboard the Africaine to South Australia, 1836.

There is also a diary of selected extracts written by the daughter of Robert and Mary, also named Mary Thomas (1823-1881). Mary Thomas (junior), often referred to Skipper, in her diary (PRG 1160/6, p. 3). She eventually became the second wife of J. M. Skipper;

Mar. 2, 1840.   John [Skipper] took a view of the stone house and our pise cottage for Mama to send to England.

See more extracts from the diary above in PDF.

Artist John Michael Skipper sketched many aspects of colonial South Australia, including the landscape, flora, and fauna, and Adelaide streets, buildings, people, and notable events.

Skipper, John Michael, 1815-1883

Thomas, Robert, 1781-1860

Thomas, Mary, 1787-1875

Duncan, Beth Mary Thomas: founding mother: the life and times of a South Australian pioneer Kent Town, S. Aust.: Wakefield Press, 2007

Thomas, Evan Kyffin The diary and letters of Mary Thomas (1836-1866): being a record of the early days of South Australia Adelaide, S. Aust.: Gillingham Printers, 1983

Hope, Penelope Voyage of the Africaine: a collection of journals, letters and extracts from contemporary publications South Yarra, Vic.: Heinemann Educational Australia, 1968

Pitt, GH The press in South Australia, 1836-1850 Adelaide, S. Aust.: Wakefield Press, 1946.

Skipper, John Michael Personal papers, PRG 72

Skipper, S. H John Michael Skipper: biographical notes, Adelaide : Pioneers' Association of South Australia, 1957

Radford, R, Hylton, J Australian colonial art: 1800-1900 Adelaide: Art Gallery Board of South Australia, 1995

SA Memory, The Foundation of South Australia, Skipper's South Australian Almanac, 1841.

SA Memory, Foundation of South Australia 1800-1851 South Australian Gazette and Colonial Register [newspaper] | Register

State Library of South Australia, Thomas family papers, PRG 1160

Australian Dictionary of Biography Online Edition Search for Thomas, Mary (1787 - 1875) | Skipper, John Michael (1815-1883)

SA Memory, SA People Skipper, John Michael