sketcher and gold commissioner, was born on 8 September 1821 at Parramatta, NSW, third son of Phillip Parker King and Harriet, née Lethbridge. In May 1851 he joined the gold-rush to Ophir, but instead of trying his luck on the diggings found an alternative way of striking it rich – buying gold from the diggers and reselling it in Sydney at a healthy profit. This seems to have qualified him in the eyes of the government for the appointment of assistant gold commissioner at Turon in August 1851. The following year he was promoted, becoming commissioner for the Southern Goldfields at Braidwood. King’s first residence at Braidwood was a tent, albeit a substantial one with wooden floorboards. My Tent at Major’s Creek, Braidwood, 1852 , drawn in pencil on buff paper, shows a comfortable if cluttered interior where a handsome loo-table gives the lie to the makeshift effect of camp-stool and stretcher-bed. This is King’s only signed sketch, but Bells Paddock 1858 , another pencil drawing, is undoubtedly his. It shows the house at Braidwood where he lived after his marriage on 27 April 1854 to Christiana Sarah, eldest daughter of William Edward Riley , and is annotated with a line from a popular song, ''Twas not for its splendour, that dwelling was dear’. Resigning his commission at Braidwood in 1859, King and his wife moved to Victoria. He died at Armadale, Melbourne, on 20 November 1910.
- Writers:
- Staff Writer
- Date written:
- 1992
- Last updated:
- 2011
