Frederick Irwin

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Colonel Frederick Chidley Irwin (1788–1860) was acting Governor of Western Australia 1847 - 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 in Spain and Portugal, and took part in several major battles of the Peninsula War, for which he won a number of medals. In 1817 he was stationed in Canada, and later in Ceylon.

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 the 63rd 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 to Lieutenant-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 retired from the army in 1854 and died in Cheltenham in 1860.

In 1991 the Frederick Irwin Anglican School was opened and named in honour of his contributions to Western Australia.

[edit] References

• The Constitution Centre of Western Australia (2002). "Lieutenant-Colonel Frederick Chidley Irwin 1847-1848", Governors and Premiers of Western Australia. West Perth, Western Australia: The Constitution Centre of Western Australia. ISBN 0-7307-3821-3. 

Preceded by Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Clarke

Governor of Western Australia 1847–1848

Succeeded by Captain Charles Fitzgerald

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