Tom Quilty was a prominent pastoralist, described by Frank H. Johnston in the introduction to The Drover's Cook and Other Verses as 'an outstanding cattleman' and 'a great bushman and horseman'. He was educated at home in the Gulf country, Queensland, and at Nudgee College in Brisbane. After leaving school, he helped his father and brothers to manage their North Queensland properties, Oakland Park and Euroka Springs. In 1917 his family bought Bedford Downs, near Hall's Creek, Western Australia. Quilty managed Euroka Springs, until in 1937 he and Olive Underwood joined his brother Patrick on the Victoria River, Northern Territory. Patrick died in 1938, and Tom lived with his family on their property, Coolibah, until 1948. They then moved west to Springvale station, south of Bedford Downs.
Quilty was a generous member of the outback community. In 1958 he published The Drover's Cook to raise funds for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. In 1966 he donated the Tom Quilty Gold Cup for an event that was to become famous as a national endurance riding championship. By 1974 the Quilty family held about 3 million acres in Western Australia and 1.5 million acres in the Northern Territory, and in 1976 Quilty was awarded an O.B.E. for his services to primary industry. After a series of strokes, he left Springvale in 1978 with his wife Olive, to live at Oakland farm near Capel, Western Australia. He died there the following year.
(Source : Adapted from Australian Dictionary of Biography : Online Edition.)
