Thomas Archer (1823-1905), pastoralist, was the fifth son of William Archer, timber merchant, sometime of Perth, Scotland, and his wife Julia, née Walker. In 1825 the family moved to Larvik, Norway. The first brother to settle in Australia was David. David Archer was joined by his brothers William and Thomas in 1838 and they determined to seek land on their own account. Hopes of joining the trek to the Darling Downs were frustrated by an outbreak of scab among the sheep, which held up the party until the best land was believed to have been taken. In 1841, however, David, Thomas and John, a sailor who had decided to settle ashore, pushed north and took up Durundur in the Moreton district, the most northerly station at that time. Ludwig Leichhardt stayed there for some months in 1843-44. With the country at Durundur proving unsuitable for sheep, in 1845 the brothers took up runs farther west but still within the Brisbane valley, at Emu Creek and Cooyar. In 1847 Thomas Archer made exploring trips to the Fitzroy Downs and in 1848 to the Burnett. As a result, land on the River Burnett was taken up in the names of David and Thomas Archer. These runs were named Coonambula and Eidsvold, the latter after the town in which the Constitution of Norway as an independent nation was signed in 1814. Thomas left Australia in 1849 for the Californian goldfields. Thomas, who had been in Queensland again in 1854-55, after which he left on account of ill health, and in 1872-80, was agent-general for Queensland in 1881-84 and 1888-90. He was appointed C. M. G. in 1884. He was the author of a pamphlet which reprinted a letter in which he had given his brother Alexander 'An Account of the events following the sailing of the Barque "Scottish Knight" from Keppel Bay on 7th January 1880', describing how the barque, on board which he and his wife were, had struck a reef. He also published pamphlets while Agent-General: The History, Resources and Future Prospects of Queensland (London, 1881); Queensland: Her History, Resources, and Future Prospects (London, 1882); and, Alleged Slavery in Queensland (1883). His "Recollections of a Rambling Life", printed in Yokohama in 1897 for private circulation, describes his early years in Australia and his experiences in California.
Adapted from the Australian Dictionary of Biography, Archer, Thomas (1823-1905)by Mary O'Keeffe, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/archer-thomas-1469/text1863, accessed 12 December 2011.
