Philip Gidley King

Philip Gidley King (31 October 1817 – 5 August 1904) was a pastoralist and politician from the colony of New South Wales. He served as a member of New South Wales Legislative Council from 1880 until his death in 1904. In 1843 at St John's Church, Parramatta, he married Elizabeth (d.1899), daughter of Hannibal Macarthur.

Early life Philip Gidley King was born on 31 October 1817 at Parramatta to Phillip Parker King and Harriet Lethbridge; his grandfather, Philip Gidley King, was Governor of New South Wales from 1800 to 1806. He was educated at Deptford in England from 1824 to 1825, and at the age of nine sailed with his father on the ship HMS Adventure surveying the coast of South America.

In December 1831, he sailed as midshipman on HMS Beagle where he befriended Charles Darwin who he remained in contact with over the course of his lifetime. In January 1836, he returned to Parramatta, and subsequently he worked on pastoral stations on the Murrumbidgee River and around Port Phillip. King died at Double Bay in Sydney on 5 August 1904.

Trustee of Australian Museum 1881 - 1904. Member of Aborigines Protection Board 1883 - 1904. Married Elizabeth Macarthur in 1843 and had, 1 daughter and 3 sons. In the 1880s he was the director of the Mercantile Bank of Sydney that became part of the Bank of New South Wales.