Sir William Montagu Manning, barrister and politician, was born on 20 June 1811 at Alphington, Devon, England, son of John Edye Manning and his wife Matilda Jorden, née Cooke. Educated in Tavistock, Southampton, he went to University College, London. He worked for his uncle, Serjeant Manning, and entered Lincoln`s Inn in 1827. Called to the Bar in 1832 he practised on the Western Circuit. With S. Neville in London he published in three volumes, Reports of Cases Relating to the Duty and Office of Magistrates Determined in the Court of King`s Bench (1834-38) and Proceedings in Courts of Revision in the Isle of Wight (1836). On 16 August in Paris he married Emily Anne, sister of Judge Edward Wise. In 1837 they decided to join his family in Sydney and arrived on 31 August in the City of Edinburgh. Manning was soon appointed a magistrate and chairman of the Quarter Sessions with a salary of £800. Annually re-elected by the magistrates, he was also commissioner of the Courts of Requests in 1841-43 and became solicitor-general in 1844, the office being confirmed in 1845 through the influence of Lord Brougham. In 1848-49 he acted on the Supreme Court bench and relieved Chief Justice Stephen of the Equity work. His wife had died on 16 November 1846 leaving three children; on 7 June 1849 at St Saviour`s, Argyle, he married Eliza Anne, daughter of Rev. W. Sowerby. From 1837 Manning had acquired real estate: 1200 acres (486 ha) at Mulgoa, some 50 town allotments at Kiama and 1000 acres (405 ha) in the Illawarra. Possibly his father`s defalcations led Manning to seek a larger fortune than was possible from the Bar. In 1848 he held 63,000 acres (25,495 ha) in the Lachlan District. He joined his brothers Edye and James and with them E. and R. Tooth and T. S. Mort was a partner in the Twofold Bay Pastoral Association which held over 400,000 acres (161,876 ha) in the Monaro and Bega districts. With Mort he financed the Maizena Co. at Merimbula. He shared in shipping ventures with Edye but had severe losses in 1851 when their uninsured Phoenix was wrecked. As solicitor-general he was allowed private practice but derived only £200 from it. In 1892 Manning was appointed K.C.M.G. He died at Wallaroy, Edgecliff Road, on 27 February 1895 and was buried in the cemetery of St Jude`s Church of England, Randwick. He was survived by a son and a daughter of his first marriage and by his second wife and their son and three daughters. His daughter Emily was a well-known writer. His estate was valued for probate at £14,623. Australian Dictionary of Biography Manning, Sir William Montagu (1811-1895) Went to Australia in 1837 and returned to England in 1857. Knighted in 1858 and created K.C.M.G. in 1892. (Source: http://www.manning.ch/genealogy/f822.htm#P2642)