Australian Dictionary of Biography

Thomas Landale (1795-1851), medical practitioner, was born probably in Scotland. He obtained a licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons at Edinburgh, and attended medical schools in London and Paris. As surgeon in the Midas he arrived at Sydney in February 1821 and applied to Governor Lachlan Macquarie for a land grant, claiming that he had goods worth £450 and £800 in cash. He was promised 800 acres (324 ha) in Van Diemen's Land, which he located near Campbell Town. In April he sailed from Hobart Town in the Midas for England, and returned in the Christina in January 1823. For at least a year he practised in Hobart 'near the bridge in Murray Street', and then moved to Launceston; on the banks of the North Esk he bought 'a fine farm', Elphin. There on 15 February 1825 he married Harriett, the eldest daughter of Richard Dry senior. In May 1829 he opened an apothecary's shop in Charles Street, Launceston; he was highly regarded as a medical practitioner and later practised with Drs William Pugh and Grant as his partners. In 1840 Landale visited Britain with his family.

Landale became one of the most prosperous and respected citizens of Launceston. In 1828 he had been elected a director of the Cornwall Bank and later became a prominent shareholder in insurance companies and in such ventures as the Tasmanian Steam Navigation Co. He also acquired much property in town and country. Aged 56, he died on 3 June 1851, 'universally respected'.

Of his four sons, the eldest, Thomas, died in 1848 while returning from England in the Rattler. Three of his daughters married army officers.