Charles Henry Darling

Sir Charles Henry Darling KCB (19 February 1809 – 25 January 1870) was a British colonial governor.

For the British lawyer, politician, and High Court Justice, see Charles Darling, 1st Baron Darling.
The Right Honourable
Sir Charles Henry Darling
KCB
3rd Governor of Victoria
In office
11 September 1863 – 7 May 1866
MonarchVictoria
Preceded bySir Henry Barkly
Succeeded byJohn Manners-Sutton, 3rd Viscount Canterbury

Biography

He was born at Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, the son of Major-General Henry Darling and nephew of General Sir Ralph Darling.

He was educated at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and served in the garrisons of Barbados, the Windward Islands, and Jamaica, with the 57th Foot. He went to New South Wales in 1827 with this regiment, and served as assistant private secretary to the Governor of New South Wales, to his uncle Ralph Darling. He served in the British West Indies from 1833 until he retired from the army in 1841 and settled in Jamaica.[1]

He started his colonial service while in Jamaica, during which time he often clashed with leaders of the free people of color who were elected to the island's Assembly, such as Robert Osborn (Jamaica). He became Lieutenant-Governor of St. Lucia in 1847, and he became Lieutenant-Governor of the Cape Colony in South Africa in 1851. A town in South Africa, on the West Coast of the country was named after Darling. He became Governor of Newfoundland in 1855.

Darling supported the British suggestions granting the French more fishing rights in waters of Newfoundland between Cape St. John and Cape Ray to the total disagreement of the Newfoundland government which ultimately led to the end of his term in office.

Darling became governor and captain-chief of Jamaica in 1857 then governor of Victoria, Australia from 1863 to 1866.

His first marriage was on 2 May 1835 to Anne Wilhelmina Dalzell (18 July 1813 – 16 October 1837).[1] They had a son who died in infancy. Anne came from a wealthy family, who owned a plantation in Barbados. Through Anne's will, Darling would have received some money, although she died before her mother who had owned the slaves.[2][3]

He was then married, at Christ Church, Barbados, on 14 December 1839 to Mary Ann Nurse (who died of yellow fever in St Lucia on 6 November 1848). His third marriage, at Ilfracombe, North Devon, was on 10 December 1851 to Elizabeth Isabella Caroline Salter (c. 1820 – 10 December 1900).

Charles Henry Darling died at Lansdown Crescent, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, aged 60.

Legacy

Darling Street in the Ballarat south suburb of Redan is named for him.[4]

See also

References
  1. Crowley, F. K. (1972). "Darling, Sir Charles Henry (1809–1870)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 4 (MUP ed.). National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  2. "Ann[e] Wilhelmina Darling (née Dalzell) - Profile & Legacies Summary". Legacies of British Slave-ownership. University College London.
  3. Coventry, C.J. (2019). "Links in the Chain: British slavery, Victoria and South Australia". Before/Now. 1 (1). doi:10.17613/d8ht-p058.
  4. City of Ballarat, 5 January 2012. Roads and Open Space Index, pg.14, Ballarat: City of Ballarat


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