Family Tree History for Greg & Linda Hooper

Thomas was a qualified ships' master before he and his wife with tw o children sailed from England to Australia. They sailed at the end of F ebruary, 1807 on the "Duke of Portland", a convict ship carrying severa l dozen paying passengers. They arrived at Port Jackson on the 27th o f July, 1807 after five months at sea. Their son was now 22 years old and daughter Hannah was 15.
Thomas tried his hand at farming, but too many difficulties forced him t o abandon that enterprise. He then reverted to his previous occupatio n as ships' master.
In 1814 he was employed by the Rev. Samuel Marsden to sail a brig name d "Active" to New Zealand, conveying missionaries to the Bay of Island s to establish the first mission station designed to bring Christianit y to the heathen New Zealanders. On board was also his wife, Hannah, a s well as son, John, and daughter, Hannah King with her husband, mission ary John King and their child, Philip. The ship arrived at the Bay Of I slands in December, 1814.
After two years, Thomas was dismissed by Samuel Marsden and it would b e another four years before he went back to sea. Thomas was then employed by the government to command vessels servicein g various penal settlements. In April, 1821, he sailed the brig "Lady Ne lson" from Sydney to Port Macquarie together with two other vessels to e stablish a settlement there. Another famous trip he undertook was as co mmander of the ship "Amity" on it's initial journey to Albany, Western A ustralia in November, 1826 to establish a new settlement there. In 183 4 Thomas finally retired at the age of 72 and moved in with the Cadman s at Sydney Cove. John Cadman was an ex-convict and had risen to becom e the Government Coxswain of Port Jackson. He was a close friend of Tho mas. Thomas died in 1837 in the Cadman's house, now known as tourist attracti on "Cadman's Cottage" at Sydney's Circular Quay.
For further details re Thomas read small booklet entitled "The Life an d Times of Captain Thomas Hansen 1762 - 1837" written and published by K ath Hansen, ISBN: 978-0-473-12857-9