at first they settled in kangarilla, but found the land at willunga more fertile and moved again, founding a mixed farm while breeding sheep, dairy cattle and bullocks. at first the going was hard; their first livestock were expensive (the first 40 head of cattle which they purchased cost them from £16 to £20 each, and their horses from £65 to £95 per head), then recession hit and their progeny were virtually worthless and they were producing more butter than the market could bear, but then copper was found at burra, and bullocks were in high demand so the brothers prospered. they dissolved their partnership and thomas, who had received some instruction in architecture and bricklaying in england, built the bush inn at willunga in 1840, and purchased ashley farm, where he and his wife (a daughter of stephen bastian) lived the rest of their lives.