Thomas Underhill

Lived in Staffordshire West Bromwich England with his family. He worked with his father at the Iron and Brass Foundry as a clerk.

At the age of about 23 yrs he left his family in England behind. He departed from the port of Southampton on the 31st of October 1896 destination Cape South Africa aboard the SS Gaul of the "Union Line" shipping services along with 542 other passangers on an estimated 49 day voyage.

The NH 65926 SS Gaul was a 4754 ton vessle, was built in 1893 and served in die Union Line's intermediate service untill it was sold in 1906.  The master of the boat was Capt Edward A. Sylvester. 

Thomas married Lizzy "Pearl" Tim in Healdtown Eastern Cape on 6April 1909.

He started buying property in 1902. He bought the Mortimer property Bizane plot 3 in 1924 from J Macmin that became Xolobeni Trading. Eastern Cape Mortimer he was the Owner of XOLOBENI TRADING SITE, LOCATION NO. 24, BIZANA in Mortimer Eastern Cape. He leased Xolobeni to BD van Niekerk. He later in 1933 sold Xolobeni trading to JJ Human. He is mentioned in a document regarding soil erosion at Groothoek Mortimer in 1936 where he might have lived. He passed away in 1941