Ralph Darling
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General Sir Ralph Darling GCH |
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| 7th Governor of New South Wales | |
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In office 19 December 1825 – 21 October 1831 |
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| Preceded by | Thomas Brisbane |
| Succeeded by | Richard Bourke |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1772 Ireland |
| Died | 2 April 1858 Brighton, England |
General Sir Ralph Darling, GCH (1772 – 2 April 1858) was Governor of New South Wales from 1825 to 1831. He is popularly described as a tyrant, accused of torturing prisoners and banning theatrical entertainment, but he also built new roads and extended the boundaries of the colony. Local geographical features named after him include the Darling River and Darling Harbour in Sydney.
The controversy of his Australian tenure somewhat obscures his remarkable early career, in which he rose rapidly from obscure origins to high command.
Darling seems to have been unique in the British Army of this period, as he progressed from an enlisted man to become a general officer with a knighthood. Born in Ireland, he was the son of a sergeant in the 45th Regiment of Foot who subsequently gained the unusual reward of promotion to officer rank as a lieutenant. Like most of the small number of ex-NCOs in this position, however, Lieutenant Darling performed only regimental administrative duties, and he struggled to support his "large family" on a subaltern's pay.
Ralph Darling enlisted at the age of fourteen as a private in his father's regiment, and served in the ranks for at least two years, on garrison duty in the West Indies. Eventually, as an "act of charity" to the family, young Ralph was granted an officer's commission as an ensign on 15 May 1793, without having to make the usual payment. The new officer soon found opportunities to show his ability, alternating front-line activity and high-level administrative duties, and in August 1796 he was appointed military secretary to Sir Ralph Abercromby, the British commander-in-chief in the West Indies. By the time he returned to Britain in 1802, still aged only twenty-nine, the sergeant's son and one-time private soldier was a highly respected lieutenant-colonel.
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