Deny King
{{Short description|Australian tin miner and nature lover}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2015}}
{{Use Australian English|date=June 2015}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Deny King
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|AM}}
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name = Charles Denison King
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1909|09|12}}
| birth_place = Huonville, Tasmania
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|1991|05|12|1909|09|12}}
| death_place = Hobart, Tasmania
| nationality = Australian
| other_names =
| occupation = Naturalist, ornithologist, artist, miner
| years_active =
| known_for = Preservation of the orange-bellied parrot
| notable_works =
| spouse = Margaret Ann Cadell
| children = Mary and Janet
}}
Charles Denison (Deny) King {{post-nominals|country=AUS|AM}} (12 September 1909{{spaced ndash}}12 May 1991) was an Australian naturalist, ornithologist, environmentalist, painter and tin miner. He spent 55 years living in Melaleuca in Port Davey, part of the remote South West Wilderness of Tasmania where he discovered the extinct shrub, Banksia kingii, among other major exploits.{{cite web|last=Mattingley|first=Christobel|title=Deny King|url=http://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/K/Deny%20King.htm|work=The companion to Tasmanian history|publisher=Centre for Tasmanian Historical Studies, University of Tasmania|access-date=14 October 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016223505/http://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/K/Deny%20King.htm|archive-date=16 October 2013|df=dmy-all}}
Biography
King was a tin miner by profession and followed his father, Charlie, to Melaleuca in 1936, where he built a house, which was accommodation for himself and workers as well as the airstrip which opened up tourism for the South West Wilderness.
On 6 June 1940, Deny King enlisted in the Australian Army where he served through World War II being discharged on 15 October 1945.{{cite web|title=King, Charles Denison|url=http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/Imagine.asp?B=6357014|publisher=National Archives of Australia|page=B883:TX2261}}
On 5 November 1949, Deny King married Margaret Ann Cadell at St David's Cathedral, Hobart.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article27576814 |title=Family Notices. |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=19 November 1949 |access-date=14 October 2013 |page=40 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} The couple had two daughters, Mary and Janet.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article44800351 |title=THE KINGS OF MELALEUCA. |newspaper=The Australian Women's Weekly | date=5 May 1971 |access-date=14 October 2013 |page=17 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}
He was instrumental in preserving the habitat of the orange-bellied parrot and it was in Melaleuca that he discovered the extinct tree or shrub Banksia kingii. King also discovered a species of eyebright, Euphrasia kingii (nowadays known as Euphrasia gibbsiae subspecies kingii), as well as a flowering evergreen in the Protea family (Proteaceae): King's Lomatia (also known as King's holly, Lomatia tasmanica).
In 1971, the King family's life at Melaleuca was the subject of an episode of the ABC television series "A Big Country".
In 1975, King was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia for his community service.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110642171 |title=QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY HONOURS. |newspaper=The Canberra Times |date=14 June 1975 |access-date=14 October 2013 |page=9 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}{{cite web|title=King, Charles Dennison|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/885540|website=It's an Honour|publisher=Australian Government|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209143543/http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/honour_roll/search.cfm?aus_award_id=885540&search_type=simple&showInd=true|archive-date=9 February 2015|df=dmy-all}}
On 12 May 1991, Deny King died suddenly of a heart attack at the home of his daughter Mary King in Hobart. He was cremated and his ashes scattered at Melaleuca.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article122362734 |title=Deny King dies. |newspaper=The Canberra Times |date=15 May 1991 |access-date=14 October 2013 |page=4 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- {{cite book|author=Mattingley, Christobel |author-link=Christobel Mattingley |year=2001|title=King of the wilderness|publisher=The Text Publishing Company }}
- {{cite journal |author=Mattingley, Christobel |author-link=Christobel Mattingley |author-mask=1 |date=Dec 2001 |title=What an exciting find! Deny King's contributions to science |journal=National Library of Australia News |volume=XII |issue=3 |pages=7–10 |url=http://www.nla.gov.au/pub/nlanews/2001/dec01/dec01news.html |archive-url=https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20120119224400/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/131760/20120120-0944/www.nla.gov.au/pub/nlanews/2001/dec01/dec01news.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-01-19 }}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
{{SouthWestTasmania |state=autocollapse}}
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Category:Australian ornithologists
Category:Australian environmentalists
Category:Members of the Order of Australia
Category:20th-century Australian painters