DEATH OF MR. T. BASTARD. - We have to record the death of an old and well-known colonist - Mr. T. Bastard. Dr. Way had been attending him recently, as there was a general breaking down of his system, but his death occurred on Monday afternoon after an illness lasting for three months. The deceased was born in London in 1818, and came out by the sailing vessel William Stewart to South Australia in 1852. After spending three months in the bootmaking trade he started, like many others, for those places in Victoria where it was said that gold unlimited was to be had for the picking up, and proved moderately successful. The relation of the events which he passed through on the diggings form an amusing portion of the interesting book of his own life, entitled "Autobiography of Cockney Tom," which he subsequently published. "Tom," as he was familiarly called, was a good tenor singer in his time, and readers of his book will still laugh when they bring to mind his mirthful story of how, when he was hard up on the fields, he began in the musical profession, and as a vocalist earned a good salary by passing the hat around. After spending some months at the diggings he returned to Adelaide and recommenced bootmaking in North Adelaide. During this time the Crimean War was raging, and in the ranks of the volunteers enrolled by the Government of this colony he held the position of colour-sergeant. In two or three years time he got an appointment in the Union Bank, and subsequently at the National Bank. The Corporation opened the City Baths in 1886, and Mr. Bastard having been a good swimmer in his youth, got the consent of the Council to teach the art of natation there, and afterwards obtained a lease of the premises, which he continued to hold till his death. The new baths now being erected on the old site probably owe their construction a great deal to the deceased's efforts. It is matter for regret that his life has not been spared to see their opening, which - remembering the great interest he always took in teaching the young to swim, in that genial hearty way which many an Adelaide swimmer will recall with pleasure - would doubtless have been a source of much gratification. He was the proposer and one of the founders of that useful institution, the Old Colonists' Association. The deceased leaves four sons and six daughters, all grown up.
Source: Evening Journal (Adelaide, SA) 11 September 1883, Page 2