Tom was a model patient in the asylum, and in early 1837 the superintendent suggested to Catherine Tom that she should petition the Home Secretary for her husband's release. Tom's father in Truro brought his son's case to the attention of Sir Hussey Vivian, the Liberal candidate for East Cornwall in the August 1837 election. Vivian, after his election, took the matter up with the Home Secretary, Lord John Russell, and Tom was granted a free pardon by Queen Victoria, on the condition he was returned into the care of his family in Cornwall. Tom was still refusing to acknowledge any association to the Cornish family and, instead of returning to Cornwall, he went to live with a local farmer and supporter, Mr Francis of Fairbrook, Boughton-under-Blean, who had offered to be his guardian. This was permitted, due to some ambiguous wording on the pardon, and in October 1837, four years after his admission to the asylum, Tom was released.