William Parkin (24 August 1801 – 31 May 1889) was a businessman politician and philanthropist in the early days of the Colony of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

History

Parkin was a native of

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury ...

, near

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...

, and emigrated to South Australia on the ''Recovery'', arriving in September 1839. He operated a drapery on

Hindley Street Hindley Street is located in the north-west quarter of the centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It runs between King William Street and West Terrace. The street was named after Charles Hindley, a British parliamentarian and soc ...

(later the site of Miller Anderson's) then at 30

Rundle Street Rundle Street, often referred to as "Rundle Street East" as distinct from Rundle Mall, is a street in the East End of the city centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It runs from Pulteney Street to East Terrace, where it becomes ...

, next to the Globe Hotel, with G. W. Chinner (There are parallels with fellow-parliamentarian John Hodgkiss.) He engaged his nephew John William Parkin (c. 1844 – 19 August 1882) to manage the store, but later regretted having done so; disowned the nephew and sold the business to James Marshall & Co. He had a seat on the board of the Kadina and Wallaroo Railway Company, and was part owner of '' The Advertiser''.

Politics

He represented

City of Adelaide The City of Adelaide, also known as the Corporation of the City of Adelaide and Adelaide City Council is a local government area in the metropolitan area of greater Adelaide, South Australia and is legally defined as the capital city of South ...

in the Legislative Assembly from March 1860 to 1862 and won a seat in the Legislative Council in 1866 and retired February 1877.

Churchman and philanthropist

He was a member of the Freeman Street Congregationalist church then Glenelg, where the pastor was the Rev. C. Manthorpe. He was a member of the committee under Rev. C. W. Evan, set up to erect the Stow Memorial Church, named for T. Q. Stow. Others were Richard Hanson, Thomas Graves, John Brown, John Davis, Horace Dean,

Robert Davenport Robert Davenport may refer to: * Robert Davenport (dramatist) (fl. 1623–1639), English dramatist * Robert Davenport (Australian politician) (1816–1896), pioneer and politician in the Colony of South Australia * Robert Davenport (cricketer) (185 ...

, Thomas Barlow, William Berry,

Samuel Davenport Sir Samuel Davenport (5 March 1818 – 3 September 1906) was one of the early settlers of Australia and became a landowner and parliamentarian in South Australia. Davenport was fourth son of George Davenport, a wealthy English banker, an ...

, William Hanson, Henry Giles,

Matthew Goode Matthew William Goode (born 3 April 1978) is a British actor. Goode made his screen debut in 2002 with American Broadcasting Company, ABC's TV film feature ''Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister#Adaptation, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister''. His ...

, Carrington Smedley, Clement Sabine, Robert Stuckey, Charles Todd, George White, Alexander Hay. In 1877 he founded the Parkin Trust to benefit those studying for the Congregational ministry. Parkin College was founded with an endowment of £8,000 and 4,160 acres of land near Darwin, Northern Territory, and left another £16,000 in his Will. He also endowed the Parkin Congregational Mission of South Australia, whose object was to maintain missions in the remote regions of South Australia and the Northern Territory; the value of his endowments to the Congregational Church totaled between £30,000 and £40,000

Family

He married twice: on 16 May 1832 to Sarah Mary Carill (c. 1814 – 23 March 1871) and on 28 February 1872 to Ellen Stonehouse (died 13 May 1925), daughter of Rev.

George Stonehouse George Stonehouse (1 July 1808 – 24 July 1871) was a Baptist minister in South Australia, founder of the LeFevre Terrace Baptist Church, North Adelaide, and first president of Adelaide Theological College. History Stonehouse was born in Kent, t ...

. They lived at "Plympton House", New Plympton; after his death she lived at "Stonehenge", Partridge Street, Glenelg. He left no children.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parkin, William Members of the South Australian House of Assembly Members of the South Australian Legislative Council Australian Congregationalists Settlers of South Australia 1801 births 1889 deaths 19th-century Australian politicians