Thomas Austin (181515 December 1871) was an English settler in Australia who is generally noted for the introduction of rabbits into Australia in 1859, even though rabbits had been brought previously to Australia by the

First Fleet The First Fleet was a fleet of 11 ships that brought the first European and African settlers to Australia. It was made up of two Royal Navy vessels, three store ships and six convict transports. On 13 May 1787 the fleet under the command ...

Personal life

Thomas Austin was born at

Baltonsborough Baltonsborough is a village and civil parish in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. According to the 2011 census the parish had a population of 864. As well as Baltonsborough village, the parish contains the hamlets of Ham Street, Catsham an ...

, Somerset, England, the youngest son of John Austin and Nancy, née Lucas. In 1831 he arrived with other members of his family in

Hobart Town Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-smalle ...

Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration of Australia in the 19th century. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land in 1803 before it became a sepa ...

(now

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

). Established the first ferry crossing the Derwent River, with his uncle and cousin in the township which is now Austin’s Ferry. After farming near

Ouse Ouse may refer to: Places Rivers in England * River Ouse, Yorkshire * River Ouse, Sussex * River Great Ouse, Northamptonshire and East Anglia ** River Little Ouse, a tributary of the River Great Ouse Other places * Ouse, Tasmania, a town in Au ...

, Thomas and his brother James crossed

Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The strait provides the most direct waterwa ...

in 1837 and settled as pioneer pastoralists in the Western District of the

Port Phillip District The Port Phillip District was an administrative division of the Colony of New South Wales from 9 September 1836 until 1 July 1851, when it was separated from New South Wales and became the Colony of Victoria. In September 1836, NSW Colonial Sec ...

(now called

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

In 1845 he married Elizabeth Phillips Harding (1821–1910) in Melbourne and they had 11 children.

Barwon Park

Thomas Austin took up land near

Winchelsea, Victoria Winchelsea is a town in Victoria, Australia. The town is located in the Surf Coast Shire local government area, the suburb or locality of Winchelsea is predominantly within Surf Coast Shire with a small section within the Colac Otway Shire. Winc ...

starting in 1837, and eventually created a run of known as Barwon Park. The property was used for sheep and for horse training. In 1871, work was completed on the bluestone mansion that Austin had designed and built on his property. This is now owned by the

National Trust of Australia The National Trust of Australia, officially the Australian Council of National Trusts (ACNT), is the Australian national peak body for community-based, non-government non-profit organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's Ind ...

and is open to the public. He died six months after the mansion was completed but his widow continued to live there and, as a philanthropist, helped to found the

Austin Hospital The Austin Hospital is a public teaching hospital in Melbourne's north-eastern suburb of Heidelberg, and is administered by Austin Health, along with the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital and the Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Centre. History The Au ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

and the Austin Homes for Women in

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

Introduction of species

As a member of the

Acclimatisation Society Acclimatisation societies were voluntary associations in the 19th and 20th centuries that encouraged the introduced species, introduction of non-native species in various places around the world, in the hope that they would acclimatization, acclimat ...

of Victoria, Thomas Austin helped to introduce many species from England. In 1861 he wrote that he had introduced hares, blackbirds and thrushes, and that he was breeding English wild rabbits and partridges. He introduced 24 breeding rabbits (''

Oryctolagus cuniculus The European rabbit (''Oryctolagus cuniculus'') or coney is a species of rabbit native to the Iberian Peninsula (including Spain, Portugal, and southwestern France), western France, and the northern Atlas Mountains in northwest Africa. It has b ...

'') on his estate in October 1859 as game for shooting parties. While other settlers praised his efforts at the time, he has borne the brunt of blame for introducing this pest to Australia. In 2022, a study of genomic data confirmed that Australia's feral rabbit population was entirely descended from the rabbits introducted by Austin.Australia's rabbit invasion began with 24 bunnies, genetic research confirms

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

, 23 August 2022

References

Bibliography

Australian Dictionary of Biography – Thomas AustinAustralian Heritage (Autumn 2006) article on Thomas Austin & rabbits
{{DEFAULTSORT:Austin, Thomas 1815 births 1871 deaths English emigrants to colonial Australia People from Somerset Australian pastoralists

Personal life

Barwon Park

Introduction of species

See also

References

Bibliography