Lieutenant-Colonel Frederick Chidley Irwin (1788–1860) was acting Governor

Governor of Western Australia

The Governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of Australia's Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. The Governor performs important constitutional, ceremonial and community functions, including:* presiding over the Executive Council;...

 of Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

 from 1847 to 1848.

Born in 1788 in Enniskillen

Enniskillen

Enniskillen is a town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is located almost exactly in the centre of the county between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 13,599 in the 2001 Census...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, Frederick Chidley Irwin was the son of Reverend James Irwin. In 1808, he was commissioned

Officer (armed forces)

An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...

 into the 83rd Regiment of Foot

83rd Regiment of Foot

The 83rd Regiment of Foot was a British infantry regiment that served in the American Revolutionary War...

. He saw service in Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 and Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

, and took part in several major battles of the Peninsula War, for which he was awarded a number of medals. In 1817 he was stationed in Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, and later in Ceylon.

In 1828, the British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 government decided to establish a colony on the western coast of Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, and a cousin of Irwin's, James Stirling

James Stirling (Australian governor)

Admiral Sir James Stirling RN was a British naval officer and colonial administrator. His enthusiasm and persistence persuaded the British Government to establish the Swan River Colony and he became the first Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Western Australia...

, was appointed its first Lieutenant-Governor

Governor of Western Australia

The Governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of Australia's Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. The Governor performs important constitutional, ceremonial and community functions, including:* presiding over the Executive Council;...

. Irwin was subsequently sent to the colony as a major in command of a detachment of the 63rd Regiment of Foot

63rd Regiment of Foot

The 63rd Regiment of Foot known as "The Bloodsuckers", was a British Army regiment in the 18th and 19th centuries.As part of the Childers Reforms, the 63rd and the 96th Regiments of Foot amalgamated in 1881 to form The Manchester Regiment the heritage continuing through to The King's Regiment in...

, whose mission was to protect and help establish the colony. He arrived with his men on board HMS Sulphur in June 1829, six days after the arrival of the first settlers and Stirling on the Parmelia

Parmelia (barque)

The Parmelia was a barque that was used to transport the first civilian officials and settlers of the Swan River Colony to Western Australia in 1829....

.http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A020006b.htm

Irwin's position as officer commanding the troops afforded him the further position of vice chairman of the Legislative Council

Western Australian Legislative Council

The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the Legislative Assembly. It sits in Parliament House in the state...

 appointed by Stirling in January 1831. From September 1832 until September 1833, Irwin was temporarily appointed to act as administrator of the colony while Stirling was absent.

During Irwin's period in charge the colony experienced difficulty in its relations with the Aboriginal people

Australian Aborigines

Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...

, and both colonists and Aboriginals were killed in different encounters.http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A020006b.htm After the killing of several settlers Irwin placed a bounty on the heads of the most aggressive Noongar

Noongar

The Noongar are an indigenous Australian people who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the south coast...

 warriors, including Yagan

Yagan

Yagan was an Australian Aboriginal warrior from the Noongar tribe who played a key part in early indigenous Australian resistance to British settlement and rule in the area of Perth, Western Australia. After he led a series of burglaries and robberies across the countryside, in which white...

 and Midgegooroo

Midgegooroo

Midgegooroo was an Indigenous Australian of the Nyungar nation, who played a key role in Indigenous resistance to white settlement in the area of Perth, Western Australia...

.

In September 1833, after more than four years in Western Australia,http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A020006b.htm Irwin returned to England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, partly to give an account to the Colonial Office

Colonial Office

Colonial Office is the government agency which serves to oversee and supervise their colony* Colonial Office - The British Government department* Office of Insular Affairs - the American government agency* Reichskolonialamt - the German Colonial Office...

 of the events that had occurred in the colony while it was under his charge.http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-9152341_ITM While there, he published The State and Position of Western Australia, the first published account of the colony. He also sought religious assistance for the colony, resulting in the arrival of the colony's first missionary, Louis Giustiniani, in 1836. He married his wife Elizabeth Courthope, sister of auditor-general of Western Australia in December 1836.http://www.daao.org.au/main/read/3437 In 1837, having been promoted to Major, he returned to Western Australia, and was made permanent Commandant of the Western Australian Forces

Colonial forces of Australia

Until Australia became a Federation in 1901, each of the six colonial governments was responsible for the defence of their own colony. From 1788 until 1870 this was done with British regular forces. In all, 25 British regiments served in the Australian colonies...

. He was further promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in 1845.

On the death of Governor Andrew Clarke in February 1847, Irwin took office as acting Governor until the arrival of the new governor, Charles Fitzgerald

Charles Fitzgerald

Captain Charles Fitzgerald was the Governor of The Gambia from 1844 until 1847, then Governor of Western Australia from 1848 to 1855....

, in August 1848. His administration was extremely unpopular with the settlers of Western Australia, due to both the poor financial state of the colony and his stern character, http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A020006b.htm and the arrival of Fitzgerald was widely celebrated. He retired from the army in 1854 and returned to England in 1856, where he died in Cheltenham

Cheltenham

Cheltenham , also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds in the South-West region of England. It is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup, the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held...

 in 1860.

In 1991 the Frederick Irwin Anglican School

Frederick Irwin Anglican School

Frederick Irwin Anglican School is a private school located in Meadow Springs in Mandurah, Western Australia. It was founded in 1991 with 175 students, and currently has around 1370 students from kindergarten to year 12...

was opened and named in honour of his contributions to Western Australia.