GeneralA general officer is an officer of high military rank. The term or equivalent is used by nearly every country in the world. General can be used as a generic term for all grades of general officer, or it can specifically refer to a single rank that is simply called general.-All general officer...
Sir Ralph Darling,
GCHThe Royal Guelphic Order, sometimes also referred to as the Hanoverian Guelphic Order, was a Hanoverian order of chivalry instituted on 28 April 1815 by the Prince Regent . It has not been conferred by the British Crown since the death of King William IV in 1837, when the personal union of the...
(1772 – 2 April 1858) was a
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
colonial Governor and the seventh Governor of New South Wales (from 19 December 1825 to 22 October 1831).
Darling entered the
British ArmyThe British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England and Scotland and...
as an
ensignEnsign is a junior rank of commissioned officer in the militaries of some countries, normally in the infantry or navy. As the junior officer in an infantry regiment was traditionally the carrier of the ensign flag, the rank itself acquired the name....
in 1793 in the
45th Regiment of FootThe 45th Regiment of Foot may mean:*45th Regiment of Foot*45th Regiment of Foot or 2nd Regiment of Marines...
, and in August 1796 was appointed military secretary to Sir
Ralph AbercrombyLieutenant-General Sir Ralph Abercromby, KB was a British lieutenant-general noted for his services during the Napoleonic Wars.-Biography:...
. Having commanded a regiment at the
Battle of CorunnaThe Battle of Corunna refers to a battle of the Peninsular War. On January 16, 1809, a French army under Marshal Soult attacked the British under Sir John Moore...
, Darling subsequently was promoted to brevet-colonel in 1810, major-general in 1813, deputy adjutant general in 1814 and was on the
Royal Horse GuardsThe Royal Horse Guards was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry.Founded August 1650 in Newcastle Upon Tyne by Sir Arthur Haselrig on the orders of Oliver Cromwell as the Regiment of Cuirassiers, the regiment became the Earl of Oxford's Regiment during the reign of...
staff in 1815.
From February 1819 to February 1824, Darling commanded the British troops on
MauritiusMauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation off the coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar. In addition to the island of Mauritius, the Republic includes the islands of Cargados Carajos, Rodrigues and the Agalega Islands...
, before serving as acting-governor of the island for the last three years of his stay, exhibiting administrative ability.
GeneralA general officer is an officer of high military rank. The term or equivalent is used by nearly every country in the world. General can be used as a generic term for all grades of general officer, or it can specifically refer to a single rank that is simply called general.-All general officer...
Sir Ralph Darling,
GCHThe Royal Guelphic Order, sometimes also referred to as the Hanoverian Guelphic Order, was a Hanoverian order of chivalry instituted on 28 April 1815 by the Prince Regent . It has not been conferred by the British Crown since the death of King William IV in 1837, when the personal union of the...
(1772 – 2 April 1858) was a
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
colonial Governor and the seventh Governor of New South Wales (from 19 December 1825 to 22 October 1831).
Early career
Darling entered the
British ArmyThe British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England and Scotland and...
as an
ensignEnsign is a junior rank of commissioned officer in the militaries of some countries, normally in the infantry or navy. As the junior officer in an infantry regiment was traditionally the carrier of the ensign flag, the rank itself acquired the name....
in 1793 in the
45th Regiment of FootThe 45th Regiment of Foot may mean:*45th Regiment of Foot*45th Regiment of Foot or 2nd Regiment of Marines...
, and in August 1796 was appointed military secretary to Sir
Ralph AbercrombyLieutenant-General Sir Ralph Abercromby, KB was a British lieutenant-general noted for his services during the Napoleonic Wars.-Biography:...
. Having commanded a regiment at the
Battle of CorunnaThe Battle of Corunna refers to a battle of the Peninsular War. On January 16, 1809, a French army under Marshal Soult attacked the British under Sir John Moore...
, Darling subsequently was promoted to brevet-colonel in 1810, major-general in 1813, deputy adjutant general in 1814 and was on the
Royal Horse GuardsThe Royal Horse Guards was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry.Founded August 1650 in Newcastle Upon Tyne by Sir Arthur Haselrig on the orders of Oliver Cromwell as the Regiment of Cuirassiers, the regiment became the Earl of Oxford's Regiment during the reign of...
staff in 1815.
From February 1819 to February 1824, Darling commanded the British troops on
MauritiusMauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation off the coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar. In addition to the island of Mauritius, the Republic includes the islands of Cargados Carajos, Rodrigues and the Agalega Islands...
, before serving as acting-governor of the island for the last three years of his stay, exhibiting administrative ability. It was largely on account of this service that Darling was appointed the seventh Governor of New South Wales in 1824. Nevertheless, Darling was very unpopular in Mauritius, particularly for allowing a British frigate to breach quarantine and start an epidemic of cholera. He then suspended the island’s
Conseil de Commune when it protested his actions.
Governor of New South Wales, 1825-1831
Darling initiated the construction, from 1826, of the convict-built
Great North RoadThe Great North Road is a historic road in New South Wales, Australia. It extends north from Sydney and was the first road to link Sydney with the fertile Hunter Valley....
, linking the
HawkesburyThe City of Hawkesbury is a Local Government Area of New South Wales, Australia, part of which is at the fringe of the Sydney metropolitan area, about 50 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district...
settlements around
SydneySydney is the largest city in Australia, and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney has a metropolitan area population of approximately 4.34 million and an area of approximately 12,000 square kilometres. Its inhabitants are called Sydneysiders, and Sydney is often called "the Harbour City"...
with those in the
Hunter ValleyThe Hunter Region, more commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, extending from approximately to north of Sydney, Australia with an approximate population of more than 630,000 people. More than half of the population live in the coastal cities of Newcastle and Lake...
.
When Darling was commissioned as Governor, the Colony’s western boundary — set in 1788 at
135 degrees east longitudeThe meridian 135° east of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, Australasia, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....
— was extended by 6 degrees west to the
129th meridianThe meridian 129° east of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Asia, Australia, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....
. This line of longitude subsequently became the border dividing
Western AustraliaWestern Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. Australia's largest state and the second largest subnational entity in the world, it has 2.2 million inhabitants , 85% of whom live in the south-west corner of the state.The state's capital...
and
South AustraliaSouth Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories....
. To the south, everything beyond Wilson’s Promontory, the southeastern ‘corner’ of the Australian continent, ceased to be under the control of
New South WalesNew South Wales is Australia's most populous state, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria, south of Queensland and east of South Australia...
and was placed under the authority of the Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land. Proclaimed
Van Diemen's LandVan Diemen's Land was the original name used by Europeans for the island of Tasmania, now part of Australia. The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman was the first European to explore Tasmania...
as a separate government.
Controversies
During his tenure Darling was accused of tyrannical misrule by, amongst others, newspapers in England and Australia (including the
Australian run by
William WentworthWilliam Charles Wentworth was an Australian poet, explorer, journalist and politician, and one of the leading figures of early colonial New South Wales...
and
Robert WardellRobert Wardell was an English-born Australian barrister and newspaper editor.-Early life:Wardell was born in England and educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he matriculated 1810, gained his LL.B. in 1817 and a LL.D. in 1823. He was editor and proprietor of the Statesman, a London evening...
). Allegations included that he ordered the torture of prisoners Joseph Sudds and Patrick Thompson as an example to others, leading to the death of Sudds.
He is said to have "ruthlessly and implacably countered all attempts to establish a theatre in Sydney". He even introduced a law effectively banning the performance of drama. The law stated that no form of public entertainment could take place without approval from the Colonial Secretary, and Darling ensured that all such applications were rejected. He did permit concerts of music to take place.
His departure for England was greeted by public rejoicing.
Late life
Ralph Darling was knighted for his various services in 1835 and received his promotion to general in 1841. He died in
BrightonBrighton is a town in the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex on the south coast of Great Britain...
on 2 April 1858, survived by his widow, at least one son and several daughters.
Family
On 13 October 1817, Darling married Elizabeth Dumaresq (born
MacauThe Macau Special Administrative Region , commonly known as Macau or Macao , is one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China, the other being Hong Kong...
10 November 1798, died 3 September 1868). He was older brother of Major-General
Henry DarlingMajor-General Sir Henry Charles Darling KCB . Major General in the British Army. Lt Governor to Tobago ....
, father of His Excellency Sir
Charles Henry DarlingSir Charles Henry Darling KCB colonial governor born Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia and died 7 Lansdowne Crescent, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England....
, KCB.
Named after Ralph Darling
The following features are named after Ralph Darling or members of his immediate family:
- the Darling River
The Darling River is the third longest river in Australia, measuring from its source in northern New South Wales to its confluence with the Murray River at Wentworth, New South Wales...
- Darling Harbour
- the Darling Downs
- the Darling Scarp
The Darling Scarp is a low escarpment running north-south to the east of the Swan Coastal Plain and Perth, Western Australia...
- Darling Street
Darling Street, running along the ridge of the Balmain Peninsular in inner-west Sydney, Australia, from the East Balmain Ferry Wharf to Victoria Road, is the main thoroughfare and high street of the suburbs of Balmain and Rozelle, and a noted café and restaurant strip.Balmain Market is on the...
, the main thoroughfare of BalmainBalmain can refer to:Places:* Balmain, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia* Balmain East, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia* Balmain, a town in Trinidad and TobagoPeople with the surname Balmain:...
- the Sydney
Sydney is the largest city in Australia, and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney has a metropolitan area population of approximately 4.34 million and an area of approximately 12,000 square kilometres. Its inhabitants are called Sydneysiders, and Sydney is often called "the Harbour City"...
suburbs of DarlinghurstDarlinghurst is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the City of Sydney...
and Darling PointDarling Point is a harbourside, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Darling Point is located 4 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of Woollahra Council....
- Darling Point Road, within Darling Point
(Strictly speaking, Darling Point and Darlinghurst were named in honour of Darling's wife Henrietta .)
External links
Further reading
- Edward Duyker, ‘An Elegant Defence of a Colonial Governor’, Australian Rationalist Quarterly, No. 22, June 1985, p. 14.