Suffield came from a well-to do-family but when his father was ruined by speculation, Thomas Suffield quarreled with his wife and family, left them and came to Australia in the 1880's. He began his working life in Australia as caretaker of the Maitland cricket ground, and then in Lambton with a survey party. He was employed at the local colliery driving a pumping engine when he was charged in December 1890 with assault, found guilty in April 1891, and sentenced to 10 years in jail. Suffield continually protested his innocence and refused to be released from prison until his innocence was declared. Several times he refused to be released on remission as this would not remove the stigma. He became a cause celebre, with The Bulletin (which later published some of his poetry) publishing in 1897 The Suffield Case : the Evidence at the Police Court and at the Trial with a Plan of the Scene of the Alleged Outrage, and a Commentary on the Methods and Manoeuvres of Botany Bay Justice by A.G. Stephens. He had been released by 12/12/1898, the date of the author note in his book of poetry.
