Hume rose from midshipman to Officer Second Class in the mercantile marine, taking his master’s licence. He left his position in the P&O line in 1862, in order to advance his career and provide extra surety for the support of his family in England. He met Francis Thomas Gregory on one of his voyages. Gregory’s brother, Augustus Gregory was Surveyor General and Commissioner for Lands in the colony of Queensland, and Hume decided to pursue a surveying career under Gregory arriving in 1863. He took a loan and apprenticed to Francis Gregory for 18 months in St George, Queensland before being granted a Surveyor Second Class position in the Surveyor General’s Department in 1864. He was granted his own “Camp” and given the role of setting up towns and agricultural centres in the Darling Downs district, west of Brisbane. His mother, three of his sisters and a brother emigrated to Australia ahead of him. His sister, Marion married Francis Gregory, while his mother married a merchant and commission agent and sister Jenny Hume married a Toowoomba bank manager. His advancement in the Surveyor-General’s Department enabled him to propose marriage to Katie Fowler in 1864.
