Thomas Campbell Carey was the surveyor

Surveying

See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...

 to whom John

John Forrest

Sir John Forrest GCMG was an Australian explorer, the first Premier of Western Australia and a cabinet minister in Australia's first federal parliament....

 and Alexander Forrest

Alexander Forrest

Alexander Forrest CMG, was an explorer and surveyor of Western Australia, as well as a politician.-Early life:Forrest was born at Picton, near Bunbury in Western Australia, the son of William and Margaret Forrest...

 were apprenticed, and was later a Member of the Western Australian Legislative Council

Western Australian Legislative Council

The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the Legislative Assembly. It sits in Parliament House in the state...

.

Thomas Carey was born in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 in 1832–33. Little is known of his youth, but he was employed as a draughtsman commanding the Engineer's Office at Chatham, and later in an Ordnance Survey as Land Agent and Surveyor. In September 1853, he married Eliza Shields Stewart.

In 1862, Carey emigrated to Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

, where he became an assistant surveyor for the colony

Colony

In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....

's Survey Department. Over the next eight years, Carey was at various times stationed at Albany

Albany, Western Australia

Albany is a port city in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, some 418 km SE of Perth, the state capital. As of 2009, Albany's population was estimated at 33,600, making it the 6th-largest city in the state....

, Wellington

Harvey, Western Australia

Harvey is a town located in the South West of Western Australia along the South Western Highway, 140 km south of Perth, between Pinjarra and Bunbury...

 and Bunbury

Bunbury, Western Australia

The port city of Bunbury is the third largest city in Western Australia after the State Capital Perth and Mandurah. It is situated south of Perth's central business district...

. In November 1863, while stationed at Bunbury, Carey accepted as his apprentice a young John Forrest. Forrest graduated after two years, entering the Survey Department. In 1869 Carey apprenticed Forrest's younger brother Alex. He also became a Justice of the Peace

Justice of the Peace

A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...

 in that year.

In May 1871, the new Surveyor-General of Western Australia Malcolm Fraser

Malcolm Fraser (surveyor)

Sir Malcolm Fraser KCMG was a powerful public servant in colonial Western Australia in the 1870s and 1880s.Malcolm Fraser was born in Gloucestershire, England in 1834. Nothing is known of his early life, except that he must have qualified as a surveyor at some stage, and that he emigrated to New...

 reorganised the Survey Department, promoting John Forrest and dismissing a number of surveyors including Carey and Alex Forrest. Carey then became a contract surveyor for the department, and also ran a private practice. He also began to get involved in public affairs, becoming a member of both the Bunbury Town Trust and the Bunbury Municipal Town Council in 1871, and Chairman of both later that year. His first wife died in October 1871, and he was remarried in April 1874, to Rose Strickland.

On 25 June 1872, Carey was elected to the Legislative Council

Western Australian Legislative Council

The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the Legislative Assembly. It sits in Parliament House in the state...

 for the seat of Vasse

Electoral district of Vasse

-External links:* ABC Election Profiles: * WAEC District Maps:...

. From 8 July 1873 until 28 October 1874, he was Chairman of Committees. He was defeated in the election of October 1874 by Robert Gale

Robert Gale

Robert Gale is principal trombone with The Philadelphia Brass, the Opera Company of Philadelphia, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and a member of the pit orchestra of the Walnut Street Theatre. He has been a member of the music faculties of Swarthmore College and Valley Forge Military Academy...

, but won the seat again in a by-election

By-election

A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

 in March 1878, holding it until his death in 1884. In 1874, Carey was an unsuccessful defendant in a libel case. In August 1879, he suggested in Parliament that Forrest had made improper use of crown land, then followed it up by writing a letter to the Herald listing the land that was held by members of the Forrest family. The accusations generated much discussion, but most members of the Council supported Forrest, and no evidence of any wrongdoing was ever uncovered.

Thomas Carey died in Perth

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

on 4 September 1884. He was survived by his second wife, four sons by his first marriage, and four daughters from his second.