PARRY, Rear Admiral Sir William Edward (1790-1855)

Typescript extract from journal of Sir (William) Edward Parry (1790-1855), covering his service as Commissioner of the Australian Agricultural Company, 1829-1834, edited by Ann Parry, 1995, with glossary and biographical notes on the personalities featuring in the journal.

Sir (William) Edward Parry: b 1790; entered Royal Navy 1803; Lt 1810; in 1818 he commanded the ALEXANDER, a hired brig under the orders of Captain John Ross in his expedition to the Arctic; in 1819 he was appointed to the HECLA, in command of an expedition to discover the north-west passage; promoted Commander, 1820 and Captain 1821; led a further three expeditions to the Arctic, 1821-1825; Hydrographer to the Admiralty, 1825; led a further expedition to the North Pole, 1827, reaching further north than any previous expedition; knighted 1829; Commissioner, Australian Agricultural Company, 1829-1834; Assistant Poor-Law Commissioner in Norfolk, 1835-1836; controller of steam department of the Navy , 1837-1846; Captain-Superintendent, Haslar Hospital, 1846-1852; Rear Admiral, 1852; Lt Governor of Greenwich Hospital, 1853; died 1855.
The Australian Agricultural Company was established by charter in 1824, with a grant of one million acres in New South Wales, and the object of breeding fine-woolled sheep and employing a large number of convicts. The directors of the company appointed Robert Dawson as chief agent, and appointed a local committee to supervise him. Dawson chose Port Stephens, an inlet about 100 miles from Sydney for the Company's grant. In time much of this land was pronounced unsuitable for sheep and Dawson was dismissed. Sir William Edward Parry was appointed Commissioner in 1829, with the task of finding better grazing land, and to arrange for the exchange of at least part of the grant.

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Presented to ICS by Ann Parry in 1995.

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Microfilm of the Journal in the possession of the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge.

Compiled by Alan Kucia as part of the RSLP AIM25 Project.

A photocopying service is available, at the discretion of the Library staff. Copies are supplied solely for research or private study. Requests to publish, or to quote from, original material should be submitted to the Information Resources Manager.

Parry's original journal was given by Sir Sydney Parry to the Mitchell Libary in Sydney, Australia. This edition has been compiled from a microfilm in the possession of the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge. The text was presented to ICS by Ann Parry in 1995.

Parry's original journal was given by Sir Sydney Parry to the Mitchell Libary in Sydney, Australia. microfilm in the possession of the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge. The text was presented to ICS by Ann Parry in 1995.

Parry of the Arctic by Ann Parry (Chatto & Windus, London, 1962).