The Dictionary of Australasian Biography/Okeden, William Edward Parry
Okeden, William Edward Parry, Under-Colonial Secretary, Queensland, son of David Parry Okeden, was born at Maranumbela, his father's station, in the Manaro District of New South Wales, on May 13th, 1841. Having served three years as an articled clerk to a solicitor in Melbourne, he relinquished the law and joined his father in squatting pursuits in Queensland in 1861. Nine years later he was appointed to initiate the Border Customs, and entered the Civil Service as Inspector of the Border Patrol in Dec. 1870. Having been employed as a police magistrate from 1872 to 1886, Mr. Okeden acted for the next three years as Immigration Agent at Brisbane, receiving the appointment of Under-Colonial Secretary in July 1889. In 1887 he acted with Mr. Kinnaird Rose on an inquiry into gaol management in Queensland.