Alfred Searcy began his education at Dumas' school, Mount Barker, South Australia, after which he attended Pulteney Street School, Adelaide, until 1869. He then became a journalist with the Adelaide Advertiser. Searcy received the certificate of the Royal Humane Society, London, for saving a woman from drowning and later became a captain in the Port Adelaide Rifle Company. In 1873 he joined the customs department, spending fourteen years as Sub-Collector of Customs at Port Darwin. He then became Clerk Assistant of the House of Assembly in Adelaide. A street in Borroloola, a suburb of Darwin, is named after Searcy.
Miller and M&M mention
A Bad Time, a separately-published extract from
By Flood and Field. This has not been traced.