William King (1863 - 1916)

Born 1863 in Ipswich, United States [uncertain]

Died 7 Apr 1916 at about age 53 in At Sea

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Emigrants of African Ancestry to 19th Century Australia

Biography

William King is a part of US Black heritage.

William King has African ancestry.

William King was a man of African ancestry who made a name for himself in the Australian newspapers of the 19th century as the "Negro Convict King" ^[1] In February 1909 William was asked at a trial if "King" was his right name. William replied he was "the son of a King in Central Africa".^[2]

" William King 's prison record lists him as a cook, though he is described elsewhere as a sailor. Possibly he worked as a ship’s cook. Later, his prison record was updated to give his occupation as mason. Other details about King’s life revealed in his prison record include that he was born in America in 1863, that he arrived in the colony of Australia on the ship Carthage in 1887. and that he could both read and write. His religion was initially listed as Roman Catholic, but was later updated to atheist." ^[3] There is listed on the list of the ship "Carthage" a CP King who was aged 25 in 1887 and was the 7th Engineer and a crew member originally from Ipswich in the United States. This made him an "unassisted passenger" on his migrationary journey from London to Australia ^[4]

William lived in Melbourne, Victoria where he was convicted for crimes of property breaking in his 20's and kept in Melbourne Gaol. For using "improper language" , he was given four days close confinement on half rations. - Released in September 1889, less than twelve months later King was sent to Pentridge Prison on a combined sentence of nine years and six months for four convictions of receiving stolen goods. During this detention, King committed 53 separate infractions of prison discipline. These mostly consisted of things like ‘insolence’, ‘disorderly conduct’ or ‘disobedience of orders’. They were punished by periods of solitary confinement or being kept in irons, with the latter on one occasion for a span of nine months. ^[3] By 1897 William King started to attract media attention and the following articles illustrated to the right give details of what was published in 1897 and 1898 in various newspapers in both New South Wales and Victoria, Australia: ^{[5] [6] [7]}

An article about William King entitled: NOTORIOUS NEGRO appeared in Western Champion (Parkes, NSW : 1898 - 1934) Thu 24 Feb 1916, Page 14 ^[8]

In February 1916 the order was given for King to be released upon the condition that he be deported to the United States. Police escorted King on board the ship Puacko, which was bound for San Francisco. According to the reminiscences of Detective O’Donnell, the Captain then told William King:

"Look here, I’ve heard some bad accounts of you, and I want to tell you if there'is going to be any trouble aboard this old sardine box, caused by you, on the voyage to ‘Frisco, you just look out. There aint no coroner’s inquests aboard this here packet and if you’re agoing to cause any trouble, you’ll go down to Davy Jones’s Locker. Do you get me? ^{[3] [9]}

William King was buried at sea 1916 and his death was recorded as a stomach complaint. ^{[10] [3]}

Sources

1. ↑ The Argus, Melbourne, Fri 12 March 1909 [1]
2. ↑ The Argus, Melbourne, 09 Feb 1909 -The Negro King [2]
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} Criminal Characters, African American prisoner' by Dr Alana Piper of University of Technology, Sydney [3]
4. ↑ Mariners and Ships in Australian Waters - Carthage, London to Sydney, Feb 1887 [4]
5. ↑ A Troublesome Convict - 17 July 1897 [5]
6. ↑ A DANGEROUS CRIMINAL AT PENTRIDGE - 23rd April 1898 [6]
7. ↑ TORTURING A NEGRO AT PENTRIDGE - 01 Dec 1898 [7]
8. ↑ NOTORIOUS NEGRO. Western Champion (Parkes, NSW : 1898 - 1934) Thu 24 Feb 1916, Page 14 [8]
9. ↑ Reminiscenes of a Victorian Detective/ D.G. O'Donnell [9]
10. ↑ The Evening Report, NZ, (21-10-2020) The tale of habitual criminal William King, a black life in Victoria's white justice system [10]