In 1823, John Ingram brought out 146 Irish contract labourers from Cork on the ship 'Barossa'. Thomas was most probably part of this group of settlers, but no record could be found in any ship's log of his arrival in South Africa.

In 1823 the Barossa sailed from Cork in Ireland to the Cape with 352 people on board. This was the idea of John Ingram, who received a Cape government bounty of £14 for each immigrant landed. The scheme was dogged with problems and the indentured servants Ingram brought into Table Bay complained bitterly of their treatment and wrote home to Ireland that the Cape was “in a state of starvation”.