Page:History of New South Wales from the records, Volume 2.djvu/349

 293 GROSE^S TREATMENT OF KING. One of the blots on Grose's administration was his unjnst 1788-94 treatment of Philip Gidley King, the Lieutenant-Governor Kinj at of Norfolk Island. King, who, in the first instance, was island, appointed Commandant by Phillip, planted a settlement on the island early in March, 1788, less than two months after the arrival of the First Fleet in Port Jackson ; and for two years he managed the affairs of the young colony to the satisfaction of the Gx)vernor-in-Chief and the authorities in England. In March, 1 790, Phillip placed Ross in charge, and g"*g?!j^ sent King home with despatches, at the same time strongly commending him to the Secretary of State for the Home Department and to the Lords of the Admiralty. The result was that he was promoted from the rank of lieutenant in the Navy to that of commander, and was honoured with a Commission appointing him Lieutenant-Governor of Norfolk Island. He resumed the government in November, 1791, and at the time when he came into collision with Grose he had been more than two years in his second term of govern- ment, which he had conducted so successfully that Norfolk ^^''JF'Jl Island was almost able to support itself with animal food, and had produced so much corn that it was in a position to give help to the elder settlement. A large part of the land was under cultivation by settlers, consisting of men from the Marine Force, sailors who had been discharged from the Sirius, and convicts who had either been emancipated or had served their sentences. The island settlement was in fact in a most thriving condition until 1793-94, when a series of events occurred which provoked the interference o{ Grose.