WHEN five sailors died after their ship, the Carrington, was smashed by a gale off Port Stephens in 1842, the local head of the Australian Agricultural Company, Phillip Parker King, had a memorial erected to them.
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The AA Company not only owned the ship but King was a man of the sea.
"His heart would have gone out, he would have burst into tears, when he found out the Carrington had sunk," says his great-great grandson, the historian and author Jonathan King.
The Carrington memorial, erected at the Church of Saint John the Evangelist in Stroud, was crafted "at the expence of the company", as the inscription etched into the sandstone reads. King was apparently chided for spending money on the monument and was told by his bosses in London there was to be no more memorials.
But 177 years on, Rear Admiral Phillip Parker King himself is to be honoured with a memorial plaque, to be unveiled in the historic Stroud church on Sunday.
"We're righting the wrongs," says Dr King, who, along with his wife Jane, has been working towards this moment for six years. "He deserves a memorial."
The son of Philip Gidley King, the third governor of New South Wales, Phillip Parker King was an officer in the Royal Navy and a hydrographer, literally helping put Australia on the map.
From 1817, he spent about five years voyaging around Australia, charting and surveying the coastline. He would later create a chart for Port Stephens, "to stop more wrecks like the Carrington".
In 1839, King swapped a life at sea for the land, appointed commissioner of the AA Company, which had about 400,000 hectares in the Port Stephens area.
Stroud was a company town, dotted with fine buildings and visited by colonial characters, such as explorer Ludwig Leichhardt, who set off from here on his "last fatal expedition".
In his 10 years as commissioner, King was also involved in the company's coal mines.
"Throughout the late 1830s and 40s, he was committed to developing the coal industry, and that was good for Newcastle," Dr King says.
Given his forebear's role in developing the colony, Jonathan King thought it was high time Phillip Parker King had a memorial in the church. After all, there were plaques commemorating other company notables.
"Visually all the plaques tell a story, and to date this has been a missing part of the story, and now that's there as well," says the church's priest, Father Martin Davies.
The Sunday unveiling is one event in a few days of commemorations in Stroud. On Thursday at 11am outside Stroud House, townsfolk will re-enact episodes from King's time. Local actor Anne Frost will help bring the drama - and the past - to life.
"I will admit to not knowing a lot about Phillip Parker King before this process began," says Anne Frost. "I'm really happy to be helping Jonathan and Jane bring this to fruition and dramatising their ideas."
Jonathan King says his "unsung hero" great-great grandfather was "incredibly modest" and would be embarrassed about all the fuss.
"He never dreamed he should get [a memorial]," says Dr King.
"It's me, the historian, many generations later, big noting his achievements, and we ought to recognise him."