Philip Parker King FRS RN (1791 - 1856)

Born 13 Dec 1791 in Norfolk Island, New South Wales (Australia)

Ancestors

Husband of Harriet (Lethbridge) King — married 1817 in England, United Kingdom

Descendants

Died 26 Feb 1856 at age 64 in St Leonards, New South Wales, Australia

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Biography

Philip King FRS RN was an Australian explorer.

Philip King FRS RN is Notable.

Philip Parker King was born on 13 December 1791 at Norfolk Island, Colony of New South Wales.^[1] He was the eldest son of Philip King and Anna Coombe.
He joined the British Navy and was the first person born in the Colony to become an admiral.
In 1817 King was given command of an expedition to complete the exploration of the north-western coast of Australia.

Marriage: Philip Parker King married Harriet Lethbridge by licence on 29 January 1817 at St. Mary Magdalene, Launceston, England. The register recorded that Philip Parker King of the "parish of Paddington in the County of Middlesex" married Harriot Lethbridge of the parish St. Mary Magdalene, Launceston, "with consent of parents". Witnesses were C. Lethbridge and Henry Hawkes.^[2]

He arrived at Port Jackson in September 1817 in the Dick with instructions from the Colonial Office to Governor Lachlan Macquarie that he was to be provided with the most suitable vessel and a carefully chosen crew. The 84-ton cutter Mermaid was bought for £2000 and the expedition sailed from Sydney on 22 December with a complement of nineteen including Allan Cunningham, John Septimus Roe and the Aboriginal Bungaree.
Sailing by way of Bass Strait, and King George Sound to North West Cape, he commenced his survey along the coast towards Arnhem Land. During his four voyages off the northern and north-western coasts, King named Port Essington and Buccaneer's Archipelago (after Dampier), proved the insularity of Melville Island and charted the coastline. He also surveyed the west coast from Rottenest Island to Cygnet Bay (in King Sound) and the entrance to Macquarie Harbour, Tasmania.

In February 1824 was made a fellow of the Royal Society. In London in 1826 he published his two-volume Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia.

In May 1826 he sailed in command of H.M.S. Adventure, with H.M.S. Beagle in company, to chart the coasts of Peru, Chile and Patagonia. In 1832 he published Sailing Directions to the Coasts of Eastern and Western Patagonia, and the Straits of Magellan and the Sea-Coast of Tierra del Fuego. He returned to Sydney in 1832.

In 1839 King was appointed resident commissioner of the Australian Agricultural Company, a position he held for ten years. His residence in Stroud, New South Wales, still stands today (42 Cowper Street, Stroud).^[3]

He was an Appointed Member of the first Legislative Council from February to October in 1839; a Non-Elective Member of the first Legislative Council from May 1850 to June 1851; and an Elective Member of the first Legislative Council for the Counties of Gloucester and Macquarie from September 1851 to February 1856. He was Chairman of the Denominational School Board from May 1852 to February 1856.^[4]

In 1855 he was promoted rear admiral on the retired list.

Please refer to Australian Dictionary of Biography for more information about Phillip Parker King (1791–1856)

Death: Philip Parker King died on 26 February 1856 at his residence, "Grantham", in North Sydney (then known as St. Leonard's), New South Wales, Australia. ^[5]

Death notice, Sydney Morning Herald, Wednesday 27 February 1856:

DEATHS ... At his residence, Grantham, St. Leonard's, on Tuesday, the 26th February, Rear-Admiral Phillip Parker King, F.R.S, F.R.A.S., aged 64 years.^[6]

He was buried on 1 March 1856 in the churchyard of St Mary Magdalene, South Creek (this district is now known at St Marys): the burial register recorded his abode Grantham, St Leonards, North Shore, age 64, Rear Admiral.^[7] He had donated the land on which the church had been built. According to a newspaper report, the church was modelled after the family church of his father Governor Philip Gidley King in Launceston, Cornwall.^[8] St. Mary Magdalene, Launceston, England was the church where Philip Parker King married his wife Harriett.

"FUNERAL OF THE LATE ADMIRAL PHILIP PARKER KING." The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) 3 March 1856

"MEMOIR OF REAR-ADMIRAL PHILIP PARKER KING, F.R.S., F.R.A.S., F.L.S., &c., &c." The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) 28 February 1856

His home "Grantham" was a large bungalow-style sandstone home on a larger plot of land (now occupied by the Greenway Housing Commission flats). It was demolished in 1925–26 to make way for the building of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.^[9]

• Colleagues of his times

1818 Allan Cunningham (1791 - 1839)
1819 John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley (1784 - 1828)
1822 Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane (1773 – 1860)
1824 John Macarthur ( 1767 - 1834)

Research Notes

Date of birth of Phillip Parker King: James Hugh Donohoe FHS records date of birth as 13 Feb 1791. Reg Wright has date of birth 13 Dec 1791. ^[10] King's "Memoir", published by The Sydney Morning Herald 2 days after his death has 13 Dec 1791. The Norfolk Island Victualling Book 1792-1796 has Dec 1791.

Sources

1. ↑ The Norfolk Island Victualling Book 1792-1796, State Library of New South Wales, has entry "Born Dec'r 1791, Phillip King, 5 yrs old 22 Oct 1796 Britannia to England" https://collection.sl.nsw.gov.au/record/9NaApbWY (children's entries are near end of book). King's "Memoir", published by The Sydney Morning Herald 2 days after his death has 13 Dec 1791
2. ↑ Marriage: Launceston, St. Mary Magdalene (transcription of Bishops Transcript), Cornwall OPC database https://www.cornwall-opc-database.org/search-database/more-info/?t=marriages&id=1825375 (accessed 2 March 2024)
3. ↑ "Stroud House", State Heritage Inventory, New South Wales Government https://www.hms.heritage.nsw.gov.au/App/Item/ViewItem?itemId=5060873 (accessed 2 March 2024)
4. ↑ "Captain Phillip Parker KING, RN (1791 - 1856)" New South Wales Parliament https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/members/Pages/profiles/king_phillip-parker.aspx (accessed 2 March 2024)
5. ↑ Death NSW BDM online Index 3056/1856 KING PHILIP (parents) PHILIP & ANNA J (PENRITH)
6. ↑ 1856 'Family Notices', The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), 27 February, p. 8. , viewed 02 Mar 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12981330
7. ↑ Sydney, Australia, Anglican Parish Registers, 1814-2011 for Phillip Parker King, St Marys: St Mary Magdalene Composite 23 April 1840 - 29 September 1911 Ancestry.com sharing link
8. ↑ "St Mary Magdalene's Anglican Church: St Marys, NSW 2760" Churches Australia https://www.churchesaustralia.org/list-of-churches/locations/new-south-wales/n-s-towns/directory/3391-st-mary-magdaleneand%2339%3Bs-anglican-church (accessed 2 March 2024)
9. ↑ Margaret Park, "Milsons Point" (2008), Dictionary of Sydney https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/milsons_point (accessed 2 March 2024)
10. ↑ List of Residents of Norfolk Island, 1788-1814 by Reg Wright, published in "Norfolk Island and its first settlement, 1788-1814", edited by Raymond Nobbs, Library of Australian History, North Sydney, 1988, pp.191-209.

See also

• Australian Dictionary of Biography King, Phillip Parker (1791–1856)

• "Phillip Parker King" from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia accessed online on 3 March, 2024 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillip_Parker_King#cite_note-10

• Dick (1788 ship) from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia first accessed online on the 26th of March, 2022 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_%281788_ship%29

• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/152064160/philip_parker-king: accessed March 2, 2024), memorial page for ADM Philip Parker King (13 Dec 1791–26 Feb 1856), Find a Grave Memorial ID 152064160, citing St Mary Magdalene Anglican Churchyard, St Marys, Penrith City, New South Wales, Australia; Maintained by Kevin Roe (contributor 48321478).