Dryer Collection Albert Thomas Dryer (1888–1963) was born in Sydney and educated at various schools in Sydney and Singleton. In 1908 he was appointed a clerk in the Customs Department in Melbourne and in the following year was transferred to Sydney. His political activities led to his dismissal in 1919. He then opened a short-lived Irish book depot and worked for various periods as a book-keeper and shopkeeper. He studied science at Sydney Technical College and later medicine at Sydney University, graduating in 1938. He set up a practice in Fairfield in 1940 and moved to Singleton after World War II, where he lived for the rest of his life.