James King (1800 – 29 November 1857)David S. Macmillan,

, ''

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

'', Volume 2, MUP, 1967, pp 54-55. Retrieved 23 August 2009 was a Scottish-Australian who was important in the establishment of the

wine industry Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

in Australia.

Biography

King left Scotland in 1826 as a free settler with

financial capital Financial capital (also simply known as capital or equity in finance, accounting and economics) is any economic resource measured in terms of money used by entrepreneurs and businesses to buy what they need to make their products or to provide ...

who arrived in Sydney early in 1827 and went into business as a merchant. King set up a business in “King Street” Sydney, including glass and other merchandise that he had brought with him. He had previously been employed in a glass factory in Edinburgh. In 1828 King received a grant of 2000 acres (8 km²) of land on the Williams River in the

Hunter Region The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and so ...

north of Sydney, which became his estate of 'Irrawang'. He also worked as a merchant in Sydney where he engaged in whaling and shipping ventures. In 1831 he discovered some sand near Sydney suitable for glass-making, samples of which were sent to England and found to be of fine quality. In January 1832 he asked that he might be rewarded for his discovery by a grant of of land near Sydney, part of the present site of the

University A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

. This was refused, but the English authorities suggested that he should be allowed the sum of £100 off the price of any land he might purchase from the state. King was much dissatisfied, and six years later was still endeavouring to have his claim better recognized. King had no success though he was able to mention that the Society of Arts in London had awarded him its silver medal, and that he had a fresh claim on account of his having established a pottery in the colony.

Winemaking and later life

The site of pottery works established in Irrawang in 1832 was where he established a vineyard where he used Spanish, French and Portuguese grape varieties. While in Australia, King had done much experimenting in vine growing and in making wine, and he continued to do this for many years, producing several varieties of wine of high quality. By 1836 King had established his vineyard and produced the first wine. In 1850 he was awarded gold medals by the Horticultural Society of Sydney for a light

sparkling wine Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it, making it fizzy. While the phrase commonly refers to champagne, European Union countries legally reserve that term for products exclusively produced in the Champagne regi ...

and for a white wine, and at the Paris exhibition of 1855 his wines were highly commended and awarded a medal. King left Australia in 1855 on a two years' visit to Europe and in 1857 published privately a pamphlet "Australia May Be an Extensive Wine-growing Country". King was by then in bad health, and died in London on 29 November 1857. He left a widow Eliza Elflida ''née'' Millner (1812–1887) who afterwards married William Roberts of Penrith, who by his will left £4000 to the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

for the foundation of scholarships in memory of King.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:King, James 1800 births 1857 deaths Settlers of Australia Australian viticulturists Australian winemakers Australian people in whaling