Home > William Knox D'Arcy

He was born in Newton Abbot, England, the son of a solicitor. He attended Westminster School until 1866 when the family emigrated to Australia, settling in Rockhampton, Queensland. D'Arcy continued his studies and chose to follow law, later joining his father's business. He did well and began to speculate, initially in land. In 1872Events January 2 Brigham Young, is arrested for bigamy (25 wives). February 20 In New York City the Metropolitan Museum of Art opens. March 1 Yellowstone National Park is established as the world's first national park March 5 George Westinghouse patents t he married Elena Birkbeck of Rockhampton.

In 1882Events February 2 The Knights of Columbus are formed in New Haven, Connecticut February 7 In Mississippi City the last heavyweight boxing championship bareknuckle fight takes place. March 2 Robert Maclean fails to assassinate Queen Victoria at Windsor Mar he became a partner, with two other businessmen, in a syndicateNote that Syndicate was also the name of a series of computer games A syndicate is an association of people or companies. In the original French language this word is mostly used for trade unions, but in common vocabulary it has extended to encompass also with Thomas, Frederick and Edwin Morgan when they opened a mine on Ironstone Mountain (later renamed Mount MorganMount Morgan is a town located in central Queensland, Australia. It is situated on the Dee River, 38 kilometres south of the city of Rockhampton, and is 680 kilometres north of the state capital, Brisbane. Town population is 3500. The town is the administ). In October 18861886 is a common year starting on Friday (click on link to calendar) Events January 18 Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England. January 29 Karl Benz patents the first successful gasoline-driven automobile. March the syndicate became the Mount Morgan Gold Mining Company , with D'Arcy a director and the largest shareholder. In 1889Events January-April January 8 Herman Hollerith receives a patent for his electric tabulating machine January 22 Columbia Phonograph is formed in Washington, DC. February 11 Meiji Constitution of Japan adopted; 1st Diet convenes in 1890 January 30 ? Crown, with a substantial fortune, he and his family moved to England. He bought Stanmore Hall , Bylaugh ParkThe grand estate at Bylaugh was acquired for the Lombe family (later Evans-Lombe) family by Sir John Lombe in 1796. Although the details remain a little unclear, it is rumoured that he won it from Richard Lloyd in a card game, some say as the result of Ll and a house on Grosvenor Square . His wife Elena died in 1897Events January 1 Brooklyn, New York merges with New York City. January 4 A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosheri, son-in-law of the Oba of Benin. This leads to a Punitive Expedition against Benin. February 2 The Pennsylvania state capitol is dest and in 1899 he married Nina Boucicault, also of Rockhampton.

In 1900 he agreed to fund a search for oil and minerals in Persia headed by Wolff, Kitabgi and Cotte. Negotiations with the Shah began in 1901 and with the offer of £10,000 a sixty year concession to explore for oil was secured in May covering 480,000 miles². A drilling team under George B. Reynolds was sent to Persia and began to search. In 1903 a company was formed and D'Arcy had to spend over £500,000 to cover the costs. False hopes were raised in 1904 and D'Arcy was forced to find further financial support, with the Burmah Oil Company agreeing to put up to £100,000 into the venture in return for much of the stock.

Drilling in southern Persia at Shardin continued until 1907 when the search was switched to Masjid-I-Sulaiman (Maidan-i-Naftun). Drilling began at one site in January 1908 and at another nearby in March. By April with no success the venture was close to collapse and D'Arcy almost bankrupt, but on May 16 there were encouraging signs and on May 26 at 1180 feet they struck oil.

In April 1909 the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) was founded and D'Arcy was made a director, the company would later become British Petroleum. By 1911 APOC had run a pipeline from the find to a refinery at Abadan. In 1912 the Mount Morgan company was listed in London and D'Arcy was made chairman of that board.