Philip King (Australian politician)

Philip Gidley King (31 October 1817 – 5 August 1904) was a pastoralist and politician from the colony of New South Wales. He served as a member of New South Wales Legislative Council from 1880 until his death in 1904.

For his grandfather, the governor, see Philip Gidley King. For his father, the naval officer, explorer & member of the Legislative Council, see Phillip Parker King.

Philip Gidley King
King in c. 1898
Born(1817-10-31)31 October 1817
Parramatta, New South Wales
Died5 August 1904(1904-08-05) (aged 86)
Double Bay, New South Wales
NationalityAustralian
OccupationPastoralist
Years active1831–1904
Known forVoyage of the Beagle 1831-1836, Australian Agricultural Company, Australian politics

Early life

Philip Gidley King was born on 31 October 1817 at Parramatta to Phillip Parker King and Harriet Lethbridge; his grandfather, Philip Gidley King, was Governor of New South Wales from 1800 to 1806.[1] He was educated at Deptford in England from 1824 to 1825, and at the age of nine sailed with his father on the ship HMS Adventure surveying the coast of South America.[2]

In December 1831, he sailed as midshipman on HMS Beagle where he befriended Charles Darwin who he remained in contact with over the course of his lifetime.[3] In January 1836, he returned to Parramatta, and subsequently he worked on pastoral stations on the Murrumbidgee River and around Port Phillip.[1] In 1842 he took charge of horse and cattle studs at Stroud for the Australian Agricultural Company. He married Elizabeth Macarthur in 1843; they had four children. From 1854, King managed a property near Tamworth.[1]

Politics

King was the inaugural mayor of the town of Tamworth from 1876 to 1880. In 1880 he was appointed by Sir Henry Parkes, the Premier, to the New South Wales Legislative Council, where he was generally associated with the Free Trade Party.[4]

Later life

In 1892, at the request of the publisher John Murray, King was asked for recollections as a possible supplement to the new illustrated edition of Darwin's The Voyage of the Beagle. These reminiscences are now held at the State Library of New South Wales along with an unpublished autobiography written in 1894.[5] King died at Double Bay in Sydney on the 5 August 1904.[4][6]

References
  1. O'Grady, Frank (1974). "King, Philip Gidley (1817–1904)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  2. Phillip Parker King (1826–1830). Surveying notebooks / Phillip Parker King (Series 01: Papers of Phillip Parker King, 1826-1844 ed.). State Library of New South Wales.
  3. Philip Gidley King (1831–1869). Three letters received from Charles Darwin, 21 Feb. 1854, 24 Apr. 1869, 11 Nov. 1869 (Series 02: Papers of Philip Gidley King, the younger ed.). State Library of New South Wales.
  4. "Mr Philip Gidley King (1817-1904)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  5. Philip Gidley King (1892). Reminiscences about Charles Darwin, 1831-1836, written in 1892 (Manuscript ed.). State Library of New South Wales.
  6. "Death of Mr P G King MLC". The Sydney Morning Herald. 6 August 1904. p. 10. Retrieved 25 October 2015 – via Trove.


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