When Thomas Dowling was born on 8 April 1861, in Huon, Victoria, Australia, his father, Edward Dowling, was 33 and his mother, Catherine McGuire, was 23. He married Ellen Talbot on 28 May 1896, in Victoria Huon, Tasmania, Australia. They were the parents of at least 4 sons and 3 daughters. He lived in Tasmania, Australia in 1861. He died on 25 October 1947, in North Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, at the age of 86, and was buried in Huonville, Tasmania, Australia.