In his early twenties Thatcher emigrated to Australia. Arriving in Melbourne on the Isabella in November 1852, he first tried his hand at goldmining but soon joined the orchestra at the Royal Victoria Theatre, Bendigo. He began filling in between the plays by singing topical verses to well-known tunes in his pleasant tenor voice. After this engagement Thatcher's reputation as a goldfields balladeer proceeded apace and by May 1854 he was given top billing at the Shamrock Hotel at Bendigo, which remained his base for several years. He travelled around all the principal goldfields of Victoria and also undertook three tours of New Zealand.[3][4]
^New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu Taonga. "Vitelli, Annie". teara.govt.nz. Archived from the original on 28 June 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
^Thatcher, Charles R. (Charles Robert); Thatcher, Charles, 1831-1878. Victoria songster (1852), Thatcher's colonial minstrel. no. 3, s.n.], retrieved 12 June 2023{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^ Noting library description - that this is bound into the copy of Thatcher, Charles R. (Charles Robert); Thatcher, Charles, 1831-1878. Victoria songster (1864), Thatcher's colonial minstrel : new collection of songs, Charlwood & Son, retrieved 12 June 2023{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
