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 branch colony. At that time Norfolk Island was covered with scrub, and to convert it into a source of supply for flax for the navy (an object dear to the home government, but never realised), and to form gardens and cultivated fields, was no easy task with the small force at King's command. In two years, however, by unflagging energy, he had some life; acres of land under cultivation, and the population had risen to 418, besides the eighty men belonging to the Sirius. His duties were manifold; he was at once magistrate and chaplain, farmer and governor of convicts. Though be was obliged to have recourse to the lash, he was not unduly severe, and never abused his almost autocratic powers; indeed Joseph Banks found fault with his too ready clemency (letter to King, 1894;, i. 239). In March 1790 he left Norfolk for Sydney Cove, whence he was sent in April with despatches from Phillip to the government. He sailed by way of Batavia, where he embarked on a small vessel of the Dutch East India Company. The captain and most of the crew fell ill with fever contracted at Batavia, and King had to navigate the ship with a crew of only four sound men. Seventeen of the crew died before they made Mauritius, and it was not till eight months after leaving Australia that he reached England (December 1790). Phillip had recommended him for promotion to the rank of master and commander in a letter to the secretary of state, 10 July 1788, as 'a very steady officer' who was doing good work in a difficult situation (ib.. i. 329); and on his arrival in London with his despatches he was informed that the government had already appointed him lieutenant-governor of Norfolk Island with an allowance of 250l. a year (commission dated 28 Jan. 1790; letter from Lord Grenville, 1 Feb. 1790;, i. 194, 526). He obtained the rank of commander in March 1791. After giving the government every information in his possession on the condition, prospects, and present necessities of the new colonies at Sydney Cove and Norfolk Island, King sailed, 15 March 1791, with his wife, Anna Josepha Coombes of Bedford, whom he had recently married, on board the Gorgon, Captain Parker, and arrived at Port Jackson 21 Sept. (the voyage is described by Mrs. Parker, Voyage, &c., London, 1795); and on 26 Oct. he departed for Norfolk Island, where be remained at his post till he was appointed Governor of New South Wales, 28 Sept. 1800. He retired on 12 Aug. 1806, returned to England, and died at Tooting, Surrey, 3 Sept. 1808. His son, Rear-admiral, is noticed separately.



KING, PHILIP [sic] PARKER (1793–1856), rear-admiral, born at Norfolk Island 13 Dec. 1793, was son of Captain [q.v.] He entered the navy in November 1807, on board the Diana frigate; and after six years of active service in the Bay of Biscay, the North Sea, and the Mediterranean, was promoted by Sir Edward Pellew to be lieutenant of the Trident, 28 Feb. 1814. In the beginning of 1817 he was appointed to conduct a survey of the coast of Australia, and was sent out, a passenger in a transport, to take command of the Mermaid, a cutter of eighty-four tons, with a complement of eighteen officers and men. He arrived in Port Jackson in September 1817, and for the next five years was engaged, almost without intermission, on the work of the survey. During that time be examined and delineated the greater part of the west, north, and north-east coasts, and laid down a new route from Sydney to Torres Strait, inside the Barrier Reef. In December 1820 the Mermaid was found to be no longer seaworthy, and King was transferred to a newly purchased ship, which was renamed the Bathurst. This was about double the size of the Mermaid, and carrying twice the number of men, but the work on which she was employed was essentially the same. King was promoted to the rank of commander, 17 July 1821, but continued the survey till the April of 1822. In September the Bathurst sailed for England, where she arrived in April 1823,and during the next two years King was occupied with the narrative and the charts of his survey. The charts were published by the hydrographic office, and form the basis of those now in use: the 'Narrative of the Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia' (2 vols. 6vo) was published in 1827. Meantime, on 26 Feb. 1824, King was elected a fellow of the Royal Society; and in September 1825 was appointed to the Adventure, with instructions to undertake the survey of 'the southern coast of South America from the Rio Plata round to Chiloe,