Phillip Parker King

The Admiral of the British Royal Navy Phillip Parker King, ( born December 13, 1791 Norfolk Iceland, † 1856) led several expeditions through on the coast of Australia.

Life and work

He was the son of Philip Gidley King and Anna Josepha King, and after his father's mentor, Arthur Phillip named. He was sent in 1796 to be educated in England and joined the Royal Navy in 1807. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1814.

He was commissioned to explore parts of the Australian coast, which had not yet been examined by Matthew Flinders. King led, between December 1817 and April 1822 by four trips.

The first three expeditions were carried out on the cutter HMS Mermaid. Since this ship was accrued in 1820, was exploited for the fourth trip the sloop HMS Bathurst. On his first trip Bungaree accompanied him as interpreter and mediator, an Elder of the Aborigines.

He traveled for measuring the Bass Strait and Tasmania.

In July 1821 he was promoted to Commander. In April 1823 he returned to England and then commanded the survey ship HMS Adventure. This together with the HMS Beagle spent five years exploring the dismembered coast to the Strait of Magellan. The result was presented in 1831 at a meeting of the Royal Geographical Society, the King himself belonged.

Honors

Robert Brown named after him in 1826 and Philip Gidley King the plant genus of the family Kingia Dasypogonaceae. The Australian native orchid Dendrobium kingianum was also named after him.

He was honored in 1963 in Australia with a 2-pound stamp.

Works

• Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of HM Ships Adventure and Beagle, Between The years 1826 and 1836, Describing Their examination of the southern shores of South America. Edited by Robert Fitzroy. 3 vols, and 1 vol "Appendix ". Henry Colburn, London 1839

Swell

• Dear Ian, Peter Kemp ( ed.): The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2nd edition, University Press, Oxford 2006, ISBN 978-0-19-920568-4, p 450