[citation needed][a] As a young man equipped with a sound education, he left for the Swan River Colony on Shepherd, arriving at Fremantle in 1838.
[3] In that year he led the Lefroy brothers, Gerald de Courcy and Anthony, who were searching for unleased pastoral land, on an expedition to the Moore River district.
However Wollaston found him unsuitable: his faults were "mental rather than moral, for he has always led a correct life, but never was able to settle his mind to any one pursuit" ... his aim was more for "displaying the ability he supposes himself to possess".
Durlacher rose in the ranks of the public service becoming acting Registrar General and clerk to the Finance Board, and a justice of the peace.
He considered it inadequate for his requirements, possibly one of the reasons why he left his young children in Perth in charge of a nursemaid, and unsuccessfully submitted a floor plan showing proposed extensions to the building.
In August the infamous bushranger Joseph Bolitho Johns, popularly known as Moondyne Joe, had been arrested for horse stealing and put into the lock-up.
The couple had a son and two daughters, including Miriam Dorothy (Doris), who became a much-loved and respected midwife and nurse in the Toodyay district.
[disputed – discuss] Labour was needed to work the lead mines in Northampton, and assist pastoralists moving their flocks northwards from Geraldton.
During the time of his residency, Durlacher's financial accounting methods in relation to government funds were either lax or deliberately mismanaged for his own benefit.