William Gore (1765 – 1845) was a

provost marshal Provost marshal is a title given to a person in charge of a group of Military Police (MP). The title originated with an older term for MPs, '' provosts'', from the Old French ''prévost'' (Modern French ''prévôt''). While a provost marshal i ...

in the

Colony of New South Wales The Colony of New South Wales was a colony of the British Empire from 1788 to 1901, when it became a State of the Commonwealth of Australia. At its greatest extent, the colony of New South Wales included the present-day Australian states of New ...

during the early 1800s. During the

Rum rebellion The Rum Rebellion of 1808 was a ''coup d'état'' in the then-British penal colony of New South Wales, staged by the New South Wales Corps in order to depose Governor William Bligh. Australia's first and only military coup, the name derives from ...

he was imprisoned for his support of Governor

William Bligh Vice-Admiral William Bligh (9 September 1754 – 7 December 1817) was an officer of the Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. The mutiny on the HMS ''Bounty'' occurred in 1789 when the ship was under his command; after being set adrift i ...

. Gore was released after two years but later in his career was again incarcerated for unpaid debts and for wilfully shooting a soldier. Gore was the first British settler of Artarmon, which is now a suburb in the Lower North Shore of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. The suburb of

Gore Hill Gore Hill is an urban locality on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Gore Hill is located within the southern part of the suburb of Artarmon, and the north-west of the suburb of St Leonards. History It takes its na ...

, which was part of his original Artarmon land grant, is named after him.

Early life

Gore was born into the reputable

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

Gore family Gore may refer to: Places Australia * Gore, Queensland * Gore Creek (New South Wales) * Gore Island (Queensland) Canada * Gore, Nova Scotia, a rural community * Gore, Quebec, a township municipality * Gore Bay, Ontario, a township on Manitoulin ...

County Sligo County Sligo ( , gle, Contae Shligigh) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the Border Region and is part of the province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in the county. Sligo County Council is the local ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. He was briefly imprisoned by Irish rebels during the

1798 Irish Rebellion The Irish Rebellion of 1798 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1798; Ulster-Scots: ''The Hurries'') was a major uprising against British rule in Ireland. The main organising force was the Society of United Irishmen, a republican revolutionary group influenced ...

Provost marshal of New South Wales

In 1805 he was appointed to the position of

Provost marshal Provost marshal is a title given to a person in charge of a group of Military Police (MP). The title originated with an older term for MPs, '' provosts'', from the Old French ''prévost'' (Modern French ''prévôt''). While a provost marshal i ...

in the colony of New South Wales. He travelled with Captain

who was to take up the position of

Governor of New South Wales The governor of New South Wales is the viceregal representative of the Australian monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governors of the ...

Taken prisoner during the Rum Rebellion

Gore was a strong supporter of Governor Bligh and aided him in his efforts to reform the corrupt administration of the officers of the

New South Wales Corps The New South Wales Corps (sometimes called The Rum Corps) was formed in England in 1789 as a permanent regiment of the British Army to relieve the New South Wales Marine Corps, who had accompanied the First Fleet to Australia, in fortifying the ...

. Gore was ordered to arrest John Macarthur who was a leading individual in the racketeering that had overtaken the colony. This led to the

Rum Rebellion The Rum Rebellion of 1808 was a ''coup d'état'' in the then-British penal colony of New South Wales, staged by the New South Wales Corps in order to depose Governor William Bligh. Australia's first and only military coup, the name derives from ...

of 1808, where Macarthur and his co-conspirators in the New South Wales Corps mutinied against Governor Bligh and placed him under arrest. Gore was also taken prisoner for his involvement in arresting Macarthur and placed under trumped-up charges of

perjury Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...

. In a

show trial A show trial is a public trial in which the judicial authorities have already determined the guilt or innocence of the defendant. The actual trial has as its only goal the presentation of both the accusation and the verdict to the public so th ...

where Gore refused to plead due to the illegality of the court, Lieutenant

Anthony Fenn Kemp Anthony Fenn Kemp (1773 – 28 October 1868) was a soldier, merchant and a deputy judge advocate of the colony of New South Wales (the predecessor to the Australian State). He was one of the key participants in the "Rum Rebellion" that removed W ...

found him guilty and sentenced him to seven years transportation to the convict settlement at

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

. He laboured in Newcastle as a convict for two years digging coal before being ordered to England to act as a witness in the

court martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

against Major George Johnston who was in charge of the New South Wales Corps during the Rum Rebellion. Gore's wife and children were evicted from their home during his imprisonment and had to live off charity. His wife developed chronic asthma during this time, a condition she later died of.

Re-appointment as provost marshal and imprisonment for debts

Governor

Lachlan Macquarie Major-general (United Kingdom), Major General Lachlan Macquarie, Companion of the Order of the Bath, CB (; gd, Lachann MacGuaire; 31 January 1762 – 1 July 1824) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Scotland. Macquarie se ...

who took control of the colony in 1810, declared all trials held by the New South Wales Corps as invalid and re-appointed Gore to the position of provost marshal in 1812. A year later, Macquarie gave Gore a land grant of 150 acres on the northern side of

Sydney Harbour Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...

. Gore named this property Artarmon which was derived from the Gore family's Ard tarmon estate in Sligo. In 1817, Gore came upon financial difficulties and was arrested and imprisoned for his debts. He escaped from jail and fled to

Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration of Australia in the 19th century. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land in 1803 before it became a sepa ...

but was captured and returned to Sydney. After his release, Gore was able to retain his position as provost marshal but in 1819 was suspended from office for his poor performance. He then retired to his Artarmon property.

Later life

Shooting of a soldier

In 1824, Gore was charged with the shooting and wounding of a soldier. The soldier, Andrew Beattie of the 48th Regiment, was on grass-cutting duty near Artarmon and Gore wounded him with bird-shot from a fowling rifle when he suspected him of stealing his grass. Gore was sentenced to life imprisonment at Newcastle. He attempted suicide in the court when he received his verdict. Gore was pardoned by Governor

Thomas Brisbane Major General Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, 1st Baronet, (23 July 1773 – 27 January 1860), was a British Army officer, administrator, and astronomer. Upon the recommendation of the Duke of Wellington, with whom he had served, he was appoint ...

in 1825 and returned to Artarmon.

Death

Gore was still heavily in debt in his old age and had mortgaged his property to several individuals. He was declared insolvent in 1843 and died in 1845. Richard Hayes Harnett, who purchased the Artarmon estate after Gore's death, found the coffins and remains of Gore and one of his daughters still unburied covered in palings in a bushy area of the property. His remains were later interred.

Legacy

The Sydney suburb of

and the associated

Gore Hill Freeway The Gore Hill Freeway is a divided freeway located in Sydney, New South Wales that is part of the Sydney Orbital Network and the Highway 1. The primary function of the freeway is to provide an alternative high-grade route from to and to red ...

are named after him and the adjoining suburb of Artarmon was named by him.

References

{{Reflist 1765 births 1845 deaths People from New South Wales