- Frederick Irwin
Colonel Frederick Chidley Irwin (1788–1860) was acting Governor of
Western Australia from 1847 to 1848.Born in 1788, Frederick Chidley Irwin was the son of Reverend James Irwin. In 1808, he was commissioned into the
83rd Foot . He saw service inSpain andPortugal , and took part in several major battles of thePeninsula War , for which he won a number of medals. In 1817 he was stationed inCanada , and later inCeylon .In 1828, the British government decided to establish a colony on the western coast of
Australia , and a cousin of Irwin's, James Stirling, was appointed its first Lieutenant-Governor. Irwin was subsequently sent to the colony as a major in command of a detachment of the63rd Regiment of Foot , whose mission was to protect and help establish the colony. He arrived with his men on board HMS "Sulphur" in June 1829.Irwin's position as officer commanding the troops afforded him the further position of vice chairman of the Legislative Council appointed by Stirling in January 1831. During Stirling's absence in 1832, Irwin was appointed to act as administrator of the colony.
In 1832, Irwin returned to
England . While there, he published "The State and Position of Western Australia", the first published account of the colony. He also sought religious assistance for the colony, resulting in the arrival of the colony's first missionary,Louis Giustiniani , in 1836. He returned to Western Australia in December 1836, having been promoted to Major, and made permanent Commandant of the Western Australian Forces. He was further promoted toLieutenant-Colonel in 1845.On the death of Governor
Andrew Clarke in February 1847, Irwin took office as acting Governor until the arrival of the new governor,Charles Fitzgerald . His administration was extremely unpopular with the settlers of Western Australia, and the arrival of Fitzgerald was widely celebrated. He returned to England, retired from the army in 1854, and died inCheltenham in 1860.In 1991 the
Frederick Irwin Anglican School was opened and named in honour of his contributions to Western Australia.References
*cite book |author=The Constitution Centre of Western Australia |year=2002 |chapter=Lieutenant-Colonel Frederick Chidley Irwin 1847-1848 |chapterurl=http://www.ccentre.wa.gov.au/index.cfm?event=governorsFrederickirwin |title=Governors and Premiers of Western Australia |url=http://www.ccentre.wa.gov.au/index.cfm?event=govPrem |location=West Perth, Western Australia |publisher=The Constitution Centre of Western Australia |id=ISBN 0730738213
Persondata
NAME=Irwin, Frederick Chidley
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=soldier
DATE OF BIRTH=1788
PLACE OF BIRTH=
DATE OF DEATH=1860
PLACE OF DEATH=Cheltenham
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