Thomas Ham ( 1821 - 1870)

Thomas Ham (1821-1870) Important colonial engraver and lithographer of prints and maps. Thomas had trained as an engraver and in 1843 was commissioned to engrave the corporation seal for the Town of Melbourne. With his business in Collins Street, East Melbourne, he was sole contractor for engravings and lithography for the government and designed and engraved currency notes for various banks. He also took up land with another brother, Jabez, on the River Plenty in 1845 and in 1846-47 at Lalbert in the Wimmera district. In 1847 he published a map showing the squatting districts of ‘Australia Felix’; it ran to six editions in 1851-61.