As a young man in London, Thomas Parkhouse was interested in literary affairs. He was connected with Unwin Bros. Of Chilworth Nature Publishing House and the Chiswick Press; in 1874 he was elected a member of the London Association of Correctors of the Press.
After his arrival in Australia he joined the staff of the SA Railways. When the Palmerstone Pine Creek Railway line was opened in 1889 he was appointed accountant and paymaster at Port Darwin. Here his interest in anthropology was stimulated by contact with Aboriginal people. In 1894 at Adelaide and at Brisbane in 1895, his papers on this subject were read before the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science.
On his retirement from the Government Service in 1923 he conceived the idea of attempting to gather up and to reproduce, in his own press the scattered primary data upon which he depended for early knowledge of the former primitive Aboriginals of the settled districts of South Australia. His first concern was to reprint information about the Kaurna tribe who once lived in the neighbourhood of Adelaide.
The handsetting and preparation extended over several years. The first part was issued in October 1923. Encouraged by the reception afforded his first efforts, Mr Parkhouse commenced to plan and set up Part II. He had almost finished setting up Moorhouse's vocabulary prior to the illness that lead to his death on 24th April, 1935 at the age of 82, which were later printed under the supervision of Miss M A Parkhouse.