Thomas Alford was a pioneer settler of the Toowoomba region. Arriving in Sydney Australia on the 21/01/1839. He left for Brisbane on 21/03/1842 with his wife and children following a few months later. In the same year Thomas decided it was time to resettle in the newly discovered Darling Downs relocating his family to Cambooya and establishing a store. Half a year had passed, and realizing his choice of location for his store was maybe not the best, he once again up lifted the family moved to new location about 15Km north of Cambooya, to the Springs.
Things were looking up for Thomas and by 1845 he received a license so that his store was also a post office. In the same year Thomas' choice of name of Drayton for the township was recognized on official documentation.
Two years later in 1847 Thomas had conceived three more children children in Drayton, which by now had a population of about fifty.
Steadily the new township was growing and Thomas help establish a school in 1851, by now the population was about two hundred people.
After becoming insolvent Thomas moved the family a bit further north to another area know as the Swamp and re-established himself and opening a new shop. He had apparently named his new shop and house 'Toowoomba'.
It was here that Thomas' sixth child, Henry King Alford, the first white child to be born in Toowoomba.
After further business setbacks Thomas eventually established a successful auction business.
Thomas also made many contributions to community affairs that ultimately helped establish Toowoomba's prosperity.
Thomas died at the age of 48 in the year 1864. His wife lived to the age of 88 and died on the 12/10/1905.
They are both buried at the Toowoomba Cemetery.
