 At the opening of the latter institution in 1865 Towns claimed to be the, “father of the tars in the colony, having commenced his career in 1809.” He was also a supporter and promoter of trans-Pacific steam navigation.He lived from 1864 to 1873 in Cranbrook House on New South Head Road in Rose Bay, Sydney.A world-wide shortage of cotton, due to blockades of Confederate ports during the American Civil War, prompted the Queensland government to encourage the cultivation of cotton in the sub-tropical climate of the colony.