[1] Trained for the sea, he sailed to Sydney in 1869 and on to New Zealand where he engaged in seafaring on the west coast for several years.
[2] Moving to Queensland and settling in the Herberton district in 1883, he undertook several jobs including labourer, assayer, miner, and prospector.
[1] Rawlings was nominated as the Labour Party candidate for the seat of Woothakata in the 1893 colonial election.
[4] Rawlings was appointed to the Queensland Legislative Council in July 1906[5] but served for less than a month before his death in August of that year.
[1] His funeral proceeded from the home of Michael Woods at Spring Hill to Parliament House, and then on to the Toowong Cemetery.