Tom Allen is a Ganyju man born on the Coen riverbanks, Queensland. He was five when he was placed in chains and stolen from his family and taken to Yarrabah mission. Allen never saw his mother again.
After two hours of schooling in the morning, children would have to work on various jobs such as bundling grass for transport, for which they did not receive payment.
When Allen was seventeen he left Yarrabah mission dormitory and worked as an assistant carpenter and diving for trochus and beche-de-mer in the ocean. He lived at Buddabadoo during this time. In his spare time, Allen built a house on the Yarrabah mission grounds in preparation for marriage. After he married, he had to work as a fisherman for the mission. Instead of wages, he was given credit to be spent at the Yarrabah store. Requests to leave the mission permanently were denied.
