Alexander Macleay
Encyclopedia
New South Wales Legislative Council
The New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is referred to as the lower house and the Council as...
FLS FRS
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
(24 June 1767 – 18 July 1848) was a leading member of the Linnean Society and a fellow of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
.
Macleay was born on Ross-shire
Ross-shire
Ross-shire is an area in the Highland Council Area in Scotland. The name is now used as a geographic or cultural term, equivalent to Ross. Until 1889 the term denoted a county of Scotland, also known as the County of Ross...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, eldest son of William Macleay, provost of Wick
Wick, Highland
Wick is an estuary town and a royal burgh in the north of the Highland council area of Scotland. Historically, it is one of two burghs within the county of Caithness, of which Wick was the county town. The town straddles the River Wick and extends along both sides of Wick Bay...
. Alexander had a classical education, before relocating to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and becoming a wine merchant with his business partner William Sharp - after whom his first son was named. In 1795 he was elected a fellow of the Linnean Society of London, also serving as its Secretary, and was also appointed chief clerk in the prisoners of war office. When the office was linked with the Transport Board
Transport Board
The Transport Board was the British Royal Navy organisation responsible for the transport of supplies and military. It is also referred to as the Board of Transport and Transport Office....
after war broke out, Macleay became head of the correspondence department and by 1806 secretary. The Board was abolished in 1815 and Macleay retired on an annual pension of £750.
Macleay's chief natural history interest was entomology
Entomology
Entomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of arthropodology...
, principally lepidoptery, and he possessed the finest and most extensive collection then existing of any private individual in England and possibly the world. This included the British Collection of John Curtis
John Curtis (entomologist)
John Curtis was an English entomologist and illustrator.-Biography:Curtis was born in Norwich and learned his engraving skills in the workshop of his father, Charles Morgan Curtis...
now housed in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, 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...
. In 1813, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences or Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. The Academy is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization which acts to promote the sciences, primarily the natural sciences and mathematics.The Academy was founded on 2...
.
On 14 June 1825, Macleay was appointed Colonial Secretary for New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. He arrived in Sydney in January 1826, with his wife Eliza, 9 of his 10 surviving children, and his extensive collection. He was soon working twelve hour days and in July 1826 was eventually made a member of the Executive and Legislative Councils. Originally residing at the Colonial Secretary's House in Macquarie Place, Macleay was granted land at Elizabeth Bay
Elizabeth Bay, New South Wales
Elizabeth Bay is a harbourside suburb in eastern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Elizabeth Bay is located 3 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney....
by Governor Ralph Darling, where he constructed Elizabeth Bay House
Elizabeth Bay House
Elizabeth Bay House is a historic home in the suburb of Elizabeth Bay in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Built between 1835 and 1839, Elizabeth Bay House was known as 'the finest house in the colony'. Elizabeth Bay House is a home in the Regency style, originally surrounded by a garden, but...
and laid out an extensive botanic garden.
His extensive entomological collections formed the basis of the Macleay Museum
Macleay Museum
The Macleay Museum in Sydney, Australia, is a natural history museum located on the main campus of the University of Sydney.- History :The building in which the museum is housed was built off Science Lane in 1887...
at the University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
.
He was also very active beyond his scientific pursuits and was the foundation president of the Australian Club
Australian Club
The Australian Club is a private club founded in 1838 and located in Sydney at 165 Macquarie Street. Its membership is men-only and it's the oldest gentlemen's club in the southern hemisphere...
.
He was the father of the entomologist William Sharp Macleay
William Sharp MacLeay
William Sharp Macleay was a British civil servant and entomologist.-Early life:Macleay was born in London, eldest son of Alexander Macleay who named him for his then business partner, fellow wine merchant William Sharp. He attended Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge graduating with...
who expanded his father's collection and of George Macleay
George Macleay
Sir George Macleay KCMG, was an Australian explorer and politician.Macleay was born in London, the third son of Alexander Macleay and educated at Westminster School. He came to Australia in 1826....
, also a zoologist. Sir William John Macleay
William John Macleay
Sir William John Macleay . was an Australian politician, zoologist and naturalist.-Early life:Macleay was born at Wick, Caithness, Scotland, second son of Kenneth Macleay of Keiss and his wife Barbara, née Horne...
was his nephew.
His daughter Rosa Roberta married Arthur Pooley Onslow; her children included Arthur Alexander Walton Onslow and Sir Alexander Onslow.
External Links
- McLeay, Alexander (1767-1848) National Library of Australia, Trove, People and Organisation record for Alexander McLeay