Philip Gidley King Naval pioneer and colonial governor

Captain Philip Gidley King RN (23 April 1758 – 3 September 1808) was an English naval officer and colonial administrator. He is best known as the official founder of the first European settlement on Norfolk Island and as the third Governor of New South Wales. Philip Gidley King - Project Gutenberg eText 12992 - http://www. ... Philip Gidley King - Project Gutenberg eText 12992 - http://www. ... This article concerns the rank and title of Captain. ... The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore the Senior Service). ... April 23 is the 113th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (114th in leap years). ... 1758 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... September 3 is the 246th day of the year (247th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1808 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... List of Governors of New South Wales See Governors of the Australian states for a description and history of the office of Governor. ...

King was born at Launceston, Cornwall on 23 April 1758. He joined the British Navy at the age of 12 as captain's servant, and was commissioned as a lieutenant in 1778. King served under Arthur Phillip who chose him as second lieutenant on HMS Sirius for the expedition to establish a convict settlement in New South Wales. On arrival, in January 1788, King was selected to lead a small party of convicts and guards to set up a settlement at Norfolk Island. Location within the British Isles Launceston (Cornish: Lannstefan; the English name is pronounced , or , usually without the t by the Cornish, but with by everyone else) is a town in the north of Cornwall, with a population of approximately 7,000. ... The Royal Navy is the navy of the United Kingdom. ... Lieutenant is a military, paramilitary, fire service or police officer rank. ... 1778 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Admiral Arthur Phillip (1786 portrait by Francis Wheatley, National Portrait Gallery, London) Admiral Arthur Phillip, RN (11 October 1738 – 31 August 1814) was a British naval officer and colonial administrator. ... HMS Sirius was the flagship of the First Fleet which set out from England in 1787 to establish the first European colony in New South Wales. ... A penal colony is a colony used to house prisoners. ... Emblems: Floral - Waratah (Telopea speciosissima); Bird - Kookaburra (Dacelo gigas); Animal - Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus); Fish - Blue Groper (Achoerodus viridis) Motto: Orta Recens Quam Pura Nites (Newly Risen, How Brightly You Shine) Slogan or Nickname: First State, Premier State Other Australian states and territories Capital Sydney Government Const. ...

On 6 March 1788, King and his party landed with difficulty, owing to the lack of a suitable harbour, and set about building huts, clearing the land, planting crops, and resisting the ravages of grubs, salt air and hurricanes. More convicts were sent, and these proved occasionally troublesome. Early in 1789 he prevented a mutiny when some of the convicts planned to take him and other officers prisoner, and escape on the next boat to arrive. 1789 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

Whilst commandant on Norfolk Island, King formed a relationship with the female convict Ann Inett — their first son, born on 8 January 1789, was named Norfolk. Another son was born in 1790 and named Sydney. January 8 is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1789 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1790 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...

Following the wreck of Sirius at Norfolk Island in March 1790, King left and returned to England to report on the difficulties of the settlements at New South Wales. Ann Inett was left in Sydney with the boys; she later married another man in 1792, and went on to lead a comfortable and respected life in the colony. King, who had probably arranged the marriage, also arranged for their two sons to be educated in England, where they became officers in the navy. 1792 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

Whilst in England King married Anna Josepha Coombe on 11 March 1791 and returned shortly after on HMS Gorgon to take up his post as Lieutenant-Governor of Norfolk Island, at an annual salary of £250. King's first legitimate offspring, Philip Parker King, was born there in December 1791, and four daughters followed. March 11 is the 70th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (71st in Leap year). ... 1791 (MDCCXCI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 11-day-slower Julian calendar). ... HMS Gorgon was a 44 gun 5th rate frigate of 911 tons, converted to a storeship. ... Admiral Phillip Parker King, R.N. F.R.S. (13 December 1793-1856) was an early explorer of the Australian coast. ...

On his return to Norfolk Island, King found the population of nearly one thousand torn apart by discontent after the strict regime of Major Robert Ross. However, he set about enthusiastically to improve conditions. He encouraged settlers, drawn from ex-convicts and ex-marines, and he listened to their views on wages and prices. By 1794 the island was self-sufficient in grain, and surplus swine were being sent to Sydney. The number of people living off the government store was high, and few settlers wanted to leave. Major Robert Ross (c. ...

In February 1794 King was faced with unfounded allegations by members of the New South Wales Corps on the island that he was punishing them too severely and ex-convicts too lightly when disputes arose. As their conduct became for mutinous, he sent twenty of them to Sydney for trial by court-martial. There Lieutenant-Governor Francis Grose censured King's actions and issued orders which gave the military illegal authority over the civilian population. Grose later apologised, but conflict with the military continued to plague King. The New South Wales Corps (also known as the Rum Corps and the Botany Bay Rangers) were the first foot soldiers to serve in Australia, in the then colony of New South Wales. ... Lieutenant-General Francis Grose (c. ...

Suffering from gout, King returned to England in October 1796, and after regaining his health, and resuming his naval career, he was appointed to replace Captain John Hunter as the third Governor of New South Wales. 1796 was a leap year starting on Friday. ... John Hunter, Naval pioneer and colonial governor Captain John Hunter (1737– to 1821) was a British naval officer and colonial administrator who succeeded Arthur Phillip as the second governor of New South Wales, Australia from 1795 to 1800. ...

King became Governor on 28 September 1800. He set about changing the system of administration, and appointed Major Joseph Foveaux as Lieutenant-Governor of Norfolk Island. September 28 is the 271st day of the year (272nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1800 (MDCCC) was an exceptional common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, but a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. ... Joseph Foveaux (1765-1846) was a soldier and convict settlement administrator. ...

His first task was to attack the misconduct of officers of the New South Wales Corps in their illicit trading in liquor, notably rum. He tried to discourage the importation of liquor, and began to construct a brewery. However, he found the refusal of convicts to work in their own time for other forms of payment, and the continued illicit local distillation, increasingly difficult to control. Caribbean rum, circa 1941 For other uses, see Rum (disambiguation). ...

He continued to face military arrogance and disobedience from the New South Wales Corps. He failed to receive support in England when he sent an accused officer John Macarthur back to face a court-martial. John Macarthur (1767-1834) was a soldier, politician and pioneer of the Australian wool industry. ...

King had some successes. His regulations for prices, wages, hours of work, financial deals, and the employment of convicts brought some relief to small holders, and reduced the numbers 'on the stores'. He encouraged construction of barracks, wharves, bridges, houses, etc. Government flocks and herds greatly increased, and he encouraged experiments with vines, tobacco, cotton, hemp, and indigo. Whaling and sealing became important sources of oil and skins, and coal mining began. He took an interest in education, establishing schools to teach convict boys to become skilled tradesmen. He encouraged smallpox vaccinations, was sympathetic to missionaries, strove to keep peace with the indigenous inhabitants, and encouraged the first newspaper, the Sydney Gazette. The Sydney Gazette was the first published newspaper in Australia. ...

Exploration led to the survey of Bass Strait and Western Port, and the discovery of Port Phillip, and settlements were established at Hobart and Port Dalrymple in Van Diemen's Land. Bass Strait (IPA /bæs/) is a sea strait separating Tasmania from the south of the Australian mainland (Victoria in particular). ... Western Port looking west from French Island to the Mornington Peninsula Western Port (also known as Western Port Bay) is an inlet on the southern coast of Australia from Bass Strait and the Pacific Ocean, adjacent and to the east of Port Phillip on which is sited Melbourne, the capital... There is also Local Government Area called the City of Port Phillip. ... Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. ... Van Diemens Land was the original name used by Europeans for the island of Tasmania, now part of Australia. ...

While still aware that Sydney was a convict colony, he gave opportunities to emancipists, considering that ex-convicts should not remain in disgrace forever. He appointed emancipists to positions of responsibility, regulated the position of assigned servants, and laid the foundation of the 'ticket-of-leave' system for deriving prisoners.

Although he directly profited from a number of commercial deals, cattle sales, and land grants, he was modest in his dealings compared with most of his subordinates.

The increased animosity between King and the New South Wales Corps led to his resignation and replacement by William Bligh in 1806, and he returned to England. Here his health failed and he died on 3 September 1808. William Bligh in 1814 Vice Admiral of the Blue William Bligh, FRS, RN (9 September 1754 – 7 December 1817) was an officer of the British Royal Navy and colonial administrator. ... 1806 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... September 3 is the 246th day of the year (247th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1808 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...

Although he worked hard for the good of New South Wales and left it very much better than he found it, the abuse from the officers harmed his reputation, and illness and the hard conditions of his service eventually wore him down. Of all the members of the First Fleet, Philip Gidley King perhaps made the greatest contribution to the early years of the colony.

References

• Australian Dictionary of Biography, Vol. 2, pp.55–61.
• Gillen, Mollie, The Founders of Australia: a biographical dictionary of the First Fleet, Sydney, Library of Australian History, 1989.