Robert was granted one thousand acres (405 hectares) at Swan Location U.
Robert and Caroline Thomson, with eight of their twelve children and a female servant, departed Gravesend on theAtwickin early June 1829. The Thomsons had recruited two male employees; however, they absconded during the layover at Cape Town.
TheAtwickarrived off Fremantleon 19 October 1829. By the end of 1829, twenty ships had landed 977 immigrants. The Thomsons appeared to be one family who struggled in the new Colony. After two years at Fremantlerunning the ferry serviceand the Stirling ArmsHotel, Thomson took his family to Rottnest, where they remained until 1839. With the resumption of his land on Rottnest, Thomson resumed his licence for theStirling Arms, holding it until 1846.During the late 1850s. Robert gave his address as Gillbup(now known as Thomson's Lake at Beeliar) before gravitating to Mandurah, where Caroline died in 1863. Robert then joined several of his children in South Australia, where he died in 1865.
Date of birth1806Place of birth / nationalityEnglandDate of death1865
