Colin Thomas, a man with white hair and glasses in a brown jacket, standing beside Uncle Bill Lemson, who wears a black hat and blue scarf, in front of green bushland.
When
Sunday 19 July 202611.15 AM
Where
Darnell RoomSt John’s Cathedral
Cost
FREEAll welcome · RSVP appreciated for catering and seating
Hosted by
Uncle Bill LemsonCo-Chair, First Nations Allies Magandjin

About Colin

Colin Thomas was raised in public housing in Sydney, in a turbulent household marked by hardship. His early life was shaped by complicated family dynamics, yet with proximity to Aboriginal neighbours and culture. Defining elements of the family story were never spoken: left unclear, in silence, never fully explained.

From a young age he showed a gifted practical mind. Forced early off the ordinary school path and into work, he educated himself. After an apprenticeship in scientific instrument manufacture, he became a specialist in medical microscopy, pathology, histology and cryostats. For 50 years he has delivered life-saving equipment worldwide.

Colin Thomas in a white lab coat and glasses, standing beside precision laboratory instruments.

A working life among the instruments that let science see the unseen.

Looking ‘Through a Different Lens’

His work helped others see what is normally hidden from view. Later in life, that same habit of close examination turned inward. After decades working with microscopes, Colin discovered he had to turn the same discipline of close attention toward his own family history: uncovering Aboriginal and Chinese ancestry, cultural memory, and a deeper search for the truth of identity and belonging.

An old shoebox in a closet, its lid ajar, with early black and white photographs spilling out.

A box of photographs, waiting a lifetime to be opened.

After his mother’s death, Colin’s discovery of a box of previously unseen family photographs triggered an experience of realisation, and a deeper journey into ancestry. Through stories, research and reflection, Colin began uncovering Aboriginal and Chinese connections and a possible link to the Awabakal people.

His journey connects with the way family stories can be hidden, denied, or only partly passed down across generations. This is not simply a story of ‘discovering Aboriginal ancestry’, but of looking more closely at intergenerational trauma, denial, silence, and the ongoing question of who we are.

What do we inherit? What gets hidden or lost in families? And what does it mean to reconnect with a story that was always there, but not fully understood?

His story invites us to ask

Colin joins Uncle Bill Lemson at St John’s Cathedral on Sunday 19 July 2026 to share a personal journey through science, memory, ancestry and identity, and to reflect together on the stories that shape us. This is the heart of the Yarning Circle. Come and Connect.

Sources: Biographical material compiled from Colin’s own recollections in conversation with Uncle Bill Lemson, reviewed and approved by Colin Thomas. Photographs used with permission.

19 July Yarning Circle with Colin Thomas

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Uncle Bill Lemson