According to his obituary in "The Times" from 1879 to 1883 he was a journalist in London, was sent to Indo China 1884-5 and visited America 1887 and 1890. By 1890 he had arrived in Australia. He was a member of the first Central Australia Exploration Expedition led by Alan A. Davidson which explored and prospected the Murchison Range, an area to the north and east of Alice Springs. F. J. Gillen who helped him obtain the Davidson position notes that after Keane left the expedition, he was engaged at Wire Creek Bore near Oodnadatta from where he wrote highly colourful articles about his experiences on the Davidson expedition for "The Port Augusta Dispatch" becoming editor of that newspaper for a short time. The articles titled" Four months in the Territory" appeared from 18 November 1898 to 13 January 1899.