me vaters, at first on the cutter Kite, and then on the In the Ariadne, Governor (then post-captain) V vas in command, until on the 23rd of December, 11- appointed to the Europe, of sixty-four guns. In King 11 appointed lieutenant on the Europe, saling for the East Indies with reinforcements. On are Pelle and King became thoroughly acquainted, and henceforth a patron of King. When peace was King returned to England on the Europe, in May, 1784. at time. a settlement at Botany Bay was under conIn September, 1786, preparations were commenced

an establishment there, and Phillip was selected as gonernor, reneving his first commission to that office, dated 12th Gossoper. 1736. The Sirius and the Supply were detailed to convoy the tran-port and store-ships, and when the Sirius was egeoma v sosed. King received the appointment of second lieutenant, on the 25th of October,* 1786.

The fort sailed on the 13th of May. 1787. On the 25th of November following. Governor Phillip, with Lieutenants King

Daves, transhipped to the Supply, and on the 18th of January, 15% arrrored in Botany Bay. The selection of Port Jackson nene of the settlement was soon made, and all the fleet were afganchored in Sydney Cove on the 24th of January, 1788. Ce 1st of February, Governor Phillip notified King that he Faydened him as superintendent and commandant of the new

ent at Norfolk Island, and that he was to prepare to sail

The reason for the selection of King is not clear. Exe of Captain Hunter, who would probably not be considered. other members of the military and civil staffs, there was one na al officer senior to King-first beutenant Bradley, of the

5. Phillip gave no reason for his choice, except: "I beg leave recommend him as an officer of men and whose perseverance that or any other service may be depem led upon." Phillip's preference for King was also s e selecting an officer to very his compliments to Botany Bay.

arounny him in the Surel anith Minor, de la Perouse, who had ar

On the 13th of February, King embarked his small company of seventeen men and six women,* exclusive of himself, who were destined to form the settlement at Norfolk Island, and on the same day he received his commission and instructions from Phillip. He sailed from Sydney on the 15th of February, and founded the settlement at Sydney Bay on the 6th of March, 1788. King at that time was in his thirtieth year. He remained at his post until March, 1790, when he was recalled by Governor Phillip to carry despatches to England, and left the island in the Supply on the 24th of March.

During this, his first administration, lasting two years, King was frequently mentioned by Governor Phillip, both in his public and private despatches. It was in consequence of Phillip's private recommendation only to Lord Sydney, and King's own reports of his control for five months of twenty-three persons, that he was appointed lieutenant-governor of Norfolk Island,§ by warrant, dated the 28th of January, 1790, at a salary of £250 a year, but this commission was not received in the colony prior to King's departure therefrom on the 17th April, 1790. The recommendation of King for promotion was contained in a private letter|| to Lord Sydney, dated July, 1788, written by Phillip, before he had received any account of King's administration at Norfolk Island, for the Supply did not return from her second voyage to that island until the 26th of August, 1788. The Right Hon. W. W. Grenville was in office when this letter and King's reports reached. England, and it is probable that Lord Sydney, who was Phillip's admirer, used his influence to obtain the appointment for King. This is strong evidence of Phillip's desire to further King's interests, a desire which eventually found expression in the recommendation of King, in a letter dated 26th October, 1793, as his successor in the government.

King arrived in London on the 21st of December, 1790, and delivered his despatches. For the first time, he learnt that he had been appointed, nearly eleven months earlier, lieutenant-governor of Norfolk Island. On the 2nd of March, 1791, he was promoted

*

King's inaccuracy with regard to figures was similar to that of other governors (see note 11, volume I).

See volume I, pages 32 and 33.

See volume I: public, pages 147, 168, 170; private, pages 67, 169. § See volume I, page 133.

See volume I, page 67.

from lieutenant to commander in the navy. During his stay in England, he married Miss Anna Josepha Coombes, and with her he embarked on H.M.S. Gorgon, sailing from England in March, and arriving at Sydney on the 21st of September, 1791.

King sailed from Sydney in the Atlantic on the 26th of October, 1791, and arrived at Norfolk Island nine days later, to commence his second period of administration on the island, which lasted until the 22nd of October, 1796. When he left the island, in March, 1790, the population was about 160 men, women, and children; when he returned, in November, 1791, it numbered over one thousand individuals. The problems of administration were altered, and larger questions were involved. King's first actions were a reversal of some which his predecessor (Ross) had initiated, and the suggestion of numerous reforms.* His conduct towards Ross in 1791 was similar to his conduct towards Hunter in 1800. On both occasions he adversely criticised the administration of his predecessors, and promptly announced many changes in lengthy general orders. When he succeeded Hunter, he avoided the responsibility of several of the reforms by means of imaginary royal instructions.

Governor Phillip left Port Jackson on the 11th of December, 1792, and King's patron was thus removed from authority. King now became a subordinate to Lieutenant-Governor Grose. He soon had his first experience of friction with the military, represented by Grose. In November, 1793, the Britannia, when under charter to the government to procure live stock and provisions from India, called at the island; King gave the master personal instructions to proceed to New Zealand to repatriate the two Maoris then living on Norfolk Island. Captain Nepean, of the N.S.W. Corps, being a passenger on board the Britannia, King decided to leave him in charge of the island, and to visit New Zealand himself. He was accordingly absent from his government from the 8th to the 18th November, 1793. For these actions— for delaying the fulfilment of the Britannia's contract, for quitting his government without leave, and for placing it in the hands of another, without having previously obtained permission-King was censured by both Grose and the Duke of Portland.†

*See Norfolk Island papers, King to Nepean, 23rd Nov., 1791; King to Phillip, 29th Dec., 1791.

See volume I, page 496.

King was also censured by Grose for his action with regard to the mutiny of the soldiers in December, 1793; but in this instance his conduct was approved by the Duke of Portland.

During his administration, King suffered constantly from illhealth, and made frequent applications for sick leave, which was finally granted by Governor Hunter in August, 1796. Hunter, at that time, had chartered the Britannia to take all invalided officers to England, and she was ordered to call at Norfolk Island. King embarked on her on the 22nd of October, 1796, and arrived in Plymouth on the 6th of May following.

The first twelve months of King's visit to England were spent in anxious efforts to obtain work and promotion. His seniority in the list of commanders was against him, as it appeared some professional disgrace was attached to those of high standing in the list of commanders, from the probability that they had been frequently passed by in promotion. He had a wife and two children, and had his half-pay and the interest on £1,700* at four per cent. to support them with. On the 15th of June, 1797, he wrote to the Duke of Portland, asking for promotion to the rank of postcaptain, but this request was refused. In a letter to Sir Joseph Banks, dated 7th October, 1797, King stated that "everything has been, and will be, done by the department with whom I am connected; but that which I belong to-and with which I alone. wish to be considered by-seems to look upon me as an alien. Indeed, my dear sir, I sometimes think most seriously of resigning my Lieut.-Government, and throwing myself on the Admiralty." From this it appears that King was not at that time in high favour at the admiralty office. This letter to Banks, however, bore fruit.

Sir Joseph Banks during this period was at the zenith of his power in controlling colonial affairs. He obtained for King a dormant commission "in the case of the death or during the absence of Captain John Hunter." It was frankly announced in the press that King had received this commission through "the * In a letter to the Duke of Portland, dated 15th June, these figures, which included £650, savings from his pay. 1st October, 1799, he stated that the savings from his pay at Norfolk Island alone amounted to £1,200.

See volume II, page 605.

Dublin Evening Post, 27th January, 1798.

SER. I. VOL. III--b

1797, King stated In a letter, dated

interest of Sir Joseph Banks, whose collection he has much enriched." The commission was dated the 1st day of May, 1798. It was limited in scope, and did not give King the titles of captaingeneral and governor-in-chief, which had been given to Governors Phillip and Hunter. The commission was practically the appointment of a locum tenens or a governor-in-chief on probation, and was recognised as such by both King and the English officials, when it became operative. Hunter was not officially informed of the issue of this limited commission until it was mentioned in a postscript to a despatch by the Duke of Portland, dated 26th February, 1799. This despatch was delivered on the 3rd November following, per the Walker.

King's return to New South Wales was first arranged for in the original Porpoise,† but owing to the defects in her construction, he was ordered to embark on the whaler Walker, which carried Portland's despatch announcing the issue of King's dormant commission. This arrangement was unsatisfactory, and the embarkation of King and his family was delayed, until the departure of the transport Speedy, on the 26th of November, 1799. In this ship, King carried the despatch to Governor Hunter, dated 5th November, 1799, by which Hunter was recalled and was ordered to transfer the administration to King.

The delay of more than five months in Hunter's departure from Port Jackson seems to disprove King's statement, in a subsequent despatch, that the authorities in England considered Hunter's recall an urgent matter. This view is confirmed by the fact that when King arrived, on the 15th of April, 1800, he possessed only a limited commission. Ample time had elapsed for the preparation of a full commission and instructions, similar to those of Governors Phillip and Hunter; yet the completion of King's was delayed until the 20th and 23rd of February, 1802 (twenty-seven months later). It is probable, therefore, that the home department was not prepared to give King the full appointment of governor-inchief in the year 1799.

King arrived in Port Jackson on the 15th April, 1800, to take charge of the administration as soon as Governor Hunter departed, and this may be said to terminate the second period of his life.

* See volume II, page 340.

See volume II, note 184.

See volume II, page 392.