Thomas Sweeney (1803 - 1867) has long been honoured as the pioneer settler of Eltham. Sweeney had in fact been transported to Australia as a convict. After a conditional pardon, he moved from Sydney to Melbourne and, in April 1842, wrote to Superintendent LaTrobe to purchase land on the south bank of the Yarra. he settled in Eltham at a property he called "Culla Hill" and lived the rest of his life there.
He died in 1867 at age 64 and is buried with his wife Margaret and various children a family plot.