William Knight was the second child of James and Mary Knight of Sussex, England. James died when William was six years old. His mother remarried and he and his siblings were raised by Thomas Godfrey of Hawkehurst, Kent. William and his older sister, Elizabeth, born 1800, arrived in the Swan River Colony in 1831, following in the footsteps of their younger brother James who had arrived on the Calista in 1829. Presumably James had encouraged his older siblings to join him. In his early years in the Colony William was granted land in several locations. In 1832 he acquired a Town Lot in Perth (Lot L67) as well as land in the Avon and Canning River areas and the Plantagenet and Vasse districts. During this period Elizabeth Knight worked as a governess in the Vasse district. On 18 January 1837 at Perth, William married Harriet Mary Trigg. They had three children. William Knight has many public positions over the following years. In 1841, Appointed to the Bank of WA, 1846 - Colonial Auditor, 1847 - Chairman , Board of Works, 1849 - Chairman Board of Works and at Post Office, Perth, 1850 - First Director, Treasurer - Perth Town Trust, 1854 - First Auditor General of WA, 1861 - Registrar General, 1862 - Acting Police Magistrate, Perth, 1862 - Acting Treasurer & Collector of Internal Revenue, 1869 - Census Commissioner, 1872 - Retired, 1874 - Deputy Sheriff, 1878 - Commissioner. In 1851 William Knight built Mount House on the side of Mt Eliza. The family moved into their new and quite palatial residence on 10 December 1851, and according to the diary of Alfred Hawes Stone, held a 'grand ball' there on New Years Eve. He also noted 'We had a pleasant evening. There were 60 or 70 people…plenty of dancing. The rooms are large and lofty and the floor of the dining room was dry rubbed with wax and turpentine and beautifully smooth. I had tuned up Knight's piano to concert pitch and also played the flute. We had champagne supper and plenty of it on the veranda, room for all to sit down comfortably'. In 1853 William's brother James Knight and his family gave up their land in the Vasse district and left Perth for Victoria. William was given leave of absence and sailed to England with his wife and daughter per 'Isabella Blythe' on 18 March 1854, returning to Perth on 22 May 1855 per the 'Lady Amherst'. Shortly after there were changes in their domestic arrangements and William's sister Elizabeth returned from Vasse to live with him and assist with his family. Copies of letters written in the 1860's and 1870's by Elizabeth and William to James and his family in Victoria are still in existence. Mount House was bought by the Emu Brewery in 1955 for the sum of sixty five thousand pounds and used for a storehouse until it was demolished in February 1960. A chandelier from Mount House still hangs in the Western Australian Parliament House. William died in Perth on 11 June 1881, his sister predeceasing him on 1 June 1877.