Lachlan Macquarie
Encyclopedia
Major-General Lachlan Macquarie CB
(31 January 1762 – 1 July 1824; Scottish Gaelic spelling: Lachlann MacGuaire), was a British military officer and colonial administrator. He served as the last autocratic Governor of New South Wales, Australia from 1810 to 1821 and had a leading role in the social, economic and architectural development of the colony. He is considered by some historians to have had a crucial influence on the transition of New South Wales
from a penal colony
to a free settlement and therefore to have played a major role in the shaping of Australian society in the early nineteenth century. An inscription on his tomb in Scotland describes him as "The Father of Australia".
off the coast of the Isle of Mull
in the Inner Hebrides
, a chain of islands off the West Coast of Scotland
. Few details are known of either his father or his birthplace. His mother was the daughter of a Maclaine chieftain who owned a castle on the Isle of Mull. He left the island at the age of 14. If he did attend the Royal High School of Edinburgh, "as tradition has it", it was only for a very brief period because at the same age, he volunteered for the army.
Macquarie joined the 84th Regiment of Foot
in 1776, travelling with it to North America in 1777 to take part in the American War of Independence
. As a new recruit on the way to America he participated in the Battle of Newcastle Jane. This battle was the first naval victory for a British merchant ship over an American privateer
. He was initially stationed at Halifax
, Nova Scotia
, and was commissioned as an ensign
five months after his arrival. In 1781, he was transferred to the 71st (Highland) Regiment of Foot
, and served with them in New York
, Charleston
, and Jamaica
. In 1784 he returned to Scotland as a half-pay lieutenant. Subsequently, he saw service with the army in India
and Egypt
. Macquarie became a Freemason in January 1793 at Bombay, in Lodge No. 1 (No. 139 on the register of the English "Moderns" Grand Lodge
). He was promoted Captain in 1789, Major in 1801, and Lieutenant-Colonel, commanding the 73rd Regiment of Foot, in 1805.
In 1793 he married Jane Jarvis, daughter of the Chief Justice of Antigua
. Three years later she died of tuberculosis
.
In November 1807, Macquarie's cousin
Elizabeth Henrietta Campbell
became his second wife. In April 1809 Macquarie was appointed Governor of New South Wales
. In making this appointment, the British government reversed its practice of appointing naval officers as governor and chose an army commander in the hope that he could secure the co-operation of the unruly New South Wales Corps
, and aided by the fact he arrived in New South Wales at the head of his own military unit, the 73rd Regiment. At the head of regular troops he was unchallenged by the New South Wales Corps whose members had become settled in farming, commerce and trade.
Macquarie was promoted to Colonel
in 1810, Brigadier
in 1811 and Major-General in 1813, while serving as governor.
The Macquaries departed from England in May 1809 aboard the HMS Dromedary
, accompanied by the HMS Hindostan
. They reached Sydney on 28 December 1809. He started as a governor on 1 January 1810.
The first task Macquarie had to tackle was to restore orderly, lawful government and discipline in the colony following the Rum Rebellion
of 1808 against Governor William Bligh
. Macquarie was ordered by the British government to arrest both John Macarthur
and Major George Johnston
, two of the leaders of the Rum Rebellion. However, by the time Macquarie arrived in Sydney in December 1809, both Macarthur and Johnston had already sailed for England to defend themselves. Macquarie immediately set about cancelling the various initiatives taken by the rebel governmentfor example, all "pardons, leases and land grants" made by the rebels were revoked.
Macquarie ruled the colony as an enlightened despot, breaking the power of the Army officers such as John Macarthur
, who had been the colony's de facto ruler since Bligh's overthrow. He was "the last British proconsul sent to run New South Wales as a military autocracy".
In 1812, the first detailed inquiry into the convict system in Australia
by a Select Committee on Transportation
, supported in general Macquarie's liberal policies. However, the committee thought that fewer tickets of leave should be issued and opposed the governor having the power to grant pardon
s. The committee concluded that the colony should be made as prosperous as possible so as to provide work for the convicts and to encourage them to become settlers after being given their freedom.
On a visit of inspection to the settlement of Hobart Town
on the Derwent River in Van Diemen's Land
(now Tasmania
) in November 1811, Macquarie was appalled at the ramshackle arrangement of the town and ordered the government surveyor James Meehan
to survey a regular street layout. This survey determined the form of the current centre of the city of Hobart.
The end of the Napoleonic Wars
in 1815 brought a renewed flood of both convicts and settlers to New South Wales, as the sea lanes became free and as the rate of unemployment and crime in Britain rose. Macquarie presided over a rapid increase in population and economic activity. By the time of his departure the white population had reached approximately 37,000. The colony began to have a life beyond its functions as a penal settlement, and an increasing proportion of the population earned their own living. All this, in Macquarie's eyes, made a new social policy necessary.
s: convicts whose sentences had expired or who had been given conditional or absolute pardons. By 1810 emancipists had outnumbered the free settlers, and Macquarie insisted that they be treated as social equals. He set the tone himself (some people hated it) by appointing emancipists to government positions: Francis Greenway
as colonial architect and Dr William Redfern
as colonial surgeon
. He scandalised settler opinion by appointing an emancipist, Andrew Thompson, as a magistrate, and by inviting emancipists to tea at Government House. In exchange, Macquarie demanded that the ex-convicts live reformed (Christian) lives. He required that former convicts regularly attend church services, and in particular, strongly encouraged formal Christian (Anglican) marriages.
Macquarie was the greatest sponsor of exploration the colony had yet seen. In 1813 he sent Blaxland
, Wentworth
and Lawson across the Blue Mountains, where they found the great plains of the interior. There he ordered the establishment of Bathurst
, Australia's first inland city. He appointed John Oxley
as surveyor-general and sent him on expeditions up the coast of New South Wales and inland to find new rivers and new lands for settlement. Oxley discovered the rich Northern Rivers and New England
regions of New South Wales, and in what is now Queensland
he explored the present site of Brisbane
.
The street layout of modern central Sydney is based upon a street plan established by Macquarie. The colony's most prestigious buildings were built on Macquarie Street
. Some of these still stand today. What has survived of the Georgian 'Rum Hospital' serves as the Parliament House of the state of New South Wales. It is probable that the hospital was designed by Macquarie himself, in collaboration with his wife. The building's wide verandas were evidently inspired by Macquarie's familiarity with English colonial architecture in India. The elaborate stables which Macquarie commissioned for Government House are part of the modern structure housing the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Both of these buildings were constructed by Macquarie in defiance of the British government's ban on expensive public building projects in the colony and reflect the tension between Macquarie's vision of Sydney as a Georgian city and the British government's view of the colony as a dumping ground for convicts to be financed as cheaply as possible.
The origin of the name "Australia" is closely associated with Macquarie. "Australia", as a name for the country which we now know by that name, was suggested by Matthew Flinders
, but first used in an official despatch by Macquarie in 1817.
Macquarie's policies, especially his championing of the emancipists and the lavish expenditure of government money on public works, aroused opposition both in the colony and in London, where the government still saw New South Wales as fundamentally a penal colony. His statement, in a letter to the Colonial Secretary, that "free settlers in general... are by far the most discontented persons in the country" and that "emancipated convicts, or persons become free by servitude
, made in many instances the best description of settlers", was much held against him.
Macquarie is regarded as having been ambivalent towards the Australian Aborigines. He ordered punitive expeditions against the aborigines. However, when dealing with friendly tribes, he developed a strategy of nominating a 'chief' to be responsible for each of the clans, identified by the wearing of a brass breast-plate engraved with his name and title. Although this was a typically European way of negotiation, it often did reflect the actual status of elders within tribes.
Despite opposition from the British government, Macquarie encouraged the creation of the colony's first bank, the Bank of New South Wales
, in 1817.
, to visit New South Wales and report on its administration. Bigge generally agreed with the settlers' criticisms, and his reports on the colony led to Macquarie's resignation in 1821; he had, however, served longer than any other governor. Bigge also recommended that no governor should again be allowed to rule as an autocrat, and in 1824 the New South Wales Legislative Council
, Australia's first legislative body, was appointed to advise the governor.
Macquarie returned to Scotland, and died in London in 1824 while busy defending himself against Bigge's charges. But his reputation continued to grow after his death, especially among the emancipists and their descendants, who were the majority of the Australian population until the gold rushes. Today he is regarded by many as the real founder of Australia as a country, rather than as a prison camp.
The nationalist school of Australian historians have treated him as a proto-nationalist hero. His grave in Mull is maintained by the National Trust of Australia
and is inscribed "The Father of Australia". Macquarie formally adopted the name Australia for the continent, the name earlier proposed by the first circumnavigator of Australia, Matthew Flinders
. As well as the many geographical features named after him in his lifetime, he is commemorated by Macquarie University
in Sydney.
Macquarie was buried on the Isle of Mull
in a remote mausoleum with his wife and son.
At the time of his governorship or shortly thereafter:
Many years after his governorship:
Institutions named after Macquarie:
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
(31 January 1762 – 1 July 1824; Scottish Gaelic spelling: Lachlann MacGuaire), was a British military officer and colonial administrator. He served as the last autocratic Governor of New South Wales, Australia from 1810 to 1821 and had a leading role in the social, economic and architectural development of the colony. He is considered by some historians to have had a crucial influence on the transition of 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...
from a penal colony
Penal colony
A penal colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general populace by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory...
to a free settlement and therefore to have played a major role in the shaping of Australian society in the early nineteenth century. An inscription on his tomb in Scotland describes him as "The Father of Australia".
Early life and career
Lachlan Macquarie was born on the island of UlvaUlva
Ulva is an island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, off the west coast of Mull. It is separated from Mull by a narrow strait, and connected to the neighbouring island of Gometra by a bridge. Much of the island is formed from Tertiary basalt rocks, which is formed into columns in places.Ulva has...
off the coast of the Isle of Mull
Isle of Mull
The Isle of Mull or simply Mull is the second largest island of the Inner Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland in the council area of Argyll and Bute....
in the Inner Hebrides
Inner Hebrides
The Inner Hebrides is an archipelago off the west coast of Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. Together these two island chains form the Hebrides, which enjoy a mild oceanic climate. There are 36 inhabited islands and a further 43 uninhabited Inner Hebrides with an area greater than...
, a chain of islands off the West Coast of 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...
. Few details are known of either his father or his birthplace. His mother was the daughter of a Maclaine chieftain who owned a castle on the Isle of Mull. He left the island at the age of 14. If he did attend the Royal High School of Edinburgh, "as tradition has it", it was only for a very brief period because at the same age, he volunteered for the army.
Macquarie joined the 84th Regiment of Foot
84th Regiment of Foot (Royal Highland Emigrants)
The 84th Regiment of Foot was a British regiment in the American Revolutionary War that was raised to defend present day Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada from the constant land and sea attacks by American Revolutionaries...
in 1776, travelling with it to North America in 1777 to take part in the American War of Independence
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
. As a new recruit on the way to America he participated in the Battle of Newcastle Jane. This battle was the first naval victory for a British merchant ship over an American privateer
Privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...
. He was initially stationed at Halifax
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
, and was commissioned as an ensign
Ensign (rank)
Ensign is a junior rank of a commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries, normally in the infantry or navy. As the junior officer in an infantry regiment was traditionally the carrier of the ensign flag, the rank itself acquired the name....
five months after his arrival. In 1781, he was transferred to the 71st (Highland) Regiment of Foot
71st (Highland) Regiment of Foot
The 71st Regiment of Foot was a Highland regiment in the British Army, which in 1881 became the 1st Battalion, Highland Light Infantry .- First formation :...
, and served with them in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Charleston
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
, and Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
. In 1784 he returned to Scotland as a half-pay lieutenant. Subsequently, he saw service with the army in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. Macquarie became a Freemason in January 1793 at Bombay, in Lodge No. 1 (No. 139 on the register of the English "Moderns" Grand Lodge
Grand Lodge
A Grand Lodge, or "Grand Orient", is the usual governing body of "Craft", or "Blue Lodge", Freemasonry in a particular jurisdiction. The first Masonic Grand Lodge was established in England in 1717 as the Premier Grand Lodge of England....
). He was promoted Captain in 1789, Major in 1801, and Lieutenant-Colonel, commanding the 73rd Regiment of Foot, in 1805.
In 1793 he married Jane Jarvis, daughter of the Chief Justice of Antigua
Antigua
Antigua , also known as Waladli, is an island in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region, the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua means "ancient" in Spanish and was named by Christopher Columbus after an icon in Seville Cathedral, Santa Maria de la...
. Three years later she died of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
.
Governor of New South Wales
Cousin marriage
Cousin marriage is marriage between two cousins. In various jurisdictions and cultures, such marriages range from being considered ideal and actively encouraged, to being uncommon but still legal, to being seen as incest and legally prohibited....
Elizabeth Henrietta Campbell
Elizabeth Macquarie
Elizabeth Macquarie was the second wife of Lachlan Macquarie who served as Governor of New South Wales from 1810 to 1821. She played a significant role in the establishment of the colony and is recognised in the naming of numerous Australian landmarks including Mrs Macquarie's Chair, Campbelltown...
became his second wife. In April 1809 Macquarie was appointed Governor of 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...
. In making this appointment, the British government reversed its practice of appointing naval officers as governor and chose an army commander in the hope that he could secure the co-operation of the unruly New South Wales Corps
New South Wales Corps
The New South Wales Corps was formed in England in 1789 as a permanent regiment to relieve the marines who had accompanied the First Fleet to Australia. The regiment, led by Major Francis Grose, consisted of three companies...
, and aided by the fact he arrived in New South Wales at the head of his own military unit, the 73rd Regiment. At the head of regular troops he was unchallenged by the New South Wales Corps whose members had become settled in farming, commerce and trade.
Macquarie was promoted to Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
in 1810, Brigadier
Brigadier
Brigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....
in 1811 and Major-General in 1813, while serving as governor.
The Macquaries departed from England in May 1809 aboard the HMS Dromedary
HMS Howe (1805)
HMS Howe was originally a teak-built Indian mercantile vessel, the Kaikusroo, which Admiral Edward Pellew bought in 1805 to serve as a 40-gun frigate. In 1806 the Admiralty fitted her out as a 24-gun storeship and renamed her HMS Dromedary...
, accompanied by the HMS Hindostan
HMS Hindostan (1804)
HMS Hindostan was a 50-gun two-decker fourth rate of the Royal Navy. She was originally a teak-built East Indiaman named Admiral Rainier that the Royal Navy brought into service in May 1804...
. They reached Sydney on 28 December 1809. He started as a governor on 1 January 1810.
The first task Macquarie had to tackle was to restore orderly, lawful government and discipline in the colony following the Rum Rebellion
Rum Rebellion
The Rum Rebellion of 1808 was the only successful armed takeover of government in Australia's history. The Governor of New South Wales, William Bligh, was deposed by the New South Wales Corps under the command of Major George Johnston, working closely with John Macarthur, on 26 January 1808, 20...
of 1808 against Governor William Bligh
William Bligh
Vice Admiral William Bligh FRS RN was an officer of the British Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. A notorious mutiny occurred during his command of HMAV Bounty in 1789; Bligh and his loyal men made a remarkable voyage to Timor, after being set adrift in the Bounty's launch by the mutineers...
. Macquarie was ordered by the British government to arrest both John Macarthur
John Macarthur (wool pioneer)
John Macarthur was a British army officer, entrepreneur, politician, architect and pioneer of settlement in Australia. Macarthur is recognised as the pioneer of the wool industry that was to boom in Australia in the early 19th century and become a trademark of the nation...
and Major George Johnston
George Johnston (New South Wales)
Lieutenant-Colonel George Johnston was briefly Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales, Australia after leading the rebellion later known as the Rum Rebellion....
, two of the leaders of the Rum Rebellion. However, by the time Macquarie arrived in Sydney in December 1809, both Macarthur and Johnston had already sailed for England to defend themselves. Macquarie immediately set about cancelling the various initiatives taken by the rebel governmentfor example, all "pardons, leases and land grants" made by the rebels were revoked.
Macquarie ruled the colony as an enlightened despot, breaking the power of the Army officers such as John Macarthur
John Macarthur (wool pioneer)
John Macarthur was a British army officer, entrepreneur, politician, architect and pioneer of settlement in Australia. Macarthur is recognised as the pioneer of the wool industry that was to boom in Australia in the early 19th century and become a trademark of the nation...
, who had been the colony's de facto ruler since Bligh's overthrow. He was "the last British proconsul sent to run New South Wales as a military autocracy".
In 1812, the first detailed inquiry into the convict system in Australia
Convictism in Australia
During the late 18th and 19th centuries, large numbers of convicts were transported to the various Australian penal colonies by the British government. One of the primary reasons for the British settlement of Australia was the establishment of a penal colony to alleviate pressure on their...
by a Select Committee on Transportation
Penal transportation
Transportation or penal transportation is the deporting of convicted criminals to a penal colony. Examples include transportation by France to Devil's Island and by the UK to its colonies in the Americas, from the 1610s through the American Revolution in the 1770s, and then to Australia between...
, supported in general Macquarie's liberal policies. However, the committee thought that fewer tickets of leave should be issued and opposed the governor having the power to grant pardon
Pardon
Clemency means the forgiveness of a crime or the cancellation of the penalty associated with it. It is a general concept that encompasses several related procedures: pardoning, commutation, remission and reprieves...
s. The committee concluded that the colony should be made as prosperous as possible so as to provide work for the convicts and to encourage them to become settlers after being given their freedom.
On a visit of inspection to the settlement of Hobart Town
Hobart
Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...
on the Derwent River in Van Diemen's Land
Van Diemen's Land
Van Diemen's Land was the original name used by most Europeans for the island of Tasmania, now part of Australia. The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman was the first European to land on the shores of Tasmania...
(now Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
) in November 1811, Macquarie was appalled at the ramshackle arrangement of the town and ordered the government surveyor James Meehan
James Meehan
James Meehan was an Irish-Australian explorer and surveyor.Meehan was born in Ireland in 1774, and was one of a number of political prisoners who arrived in Australia in February 1800. Two months later he became an assistant to Charles Grimes, the surveyor-general, and went with him to explore the...
to survey a regular street layout. This survey determined the form of the current centre of the city of Hobart.
The end of the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
in 1815 brought a renewed flood of both convicts and settlers to New South Wales, as the sea lanes became free and as the rate of unemployment and crime in Britain rose. Macquarie presided over a rapid increase in population and economic activity. By the time of his departure the white population had reached approximately 37,000. The colony began to have a life beyond its functions as a penal settlement, and an increasing proportion of the population earned their own living. All this, in Macquarie's eyes, made a new social policy necessary.
As reformer and explorer
Central to Macquarie's policy was his treatment of the emancipistEmancipist
An emancipist was any of the convicts sentenced and transported under the convict system to Australia, who had been given conditional or absolute pardons...
s: convicts whose sentences had expired or who had been given conditional or absolute pardons. By 1810 emancipists had outnumbered the free settlers, and Macquarie insisted that they be treated as social equals. He set the tone himself (some people hated it) by appointing emancipists to government positions: Francis Greenway
Francis Greenway
-References:* *...
as colonial architect and Dr William Redfern
William Redfern
William Redfern was a leading surgeon in early colonial New South Wales.-Early life:Redfern appears to have been born in Canada and raised in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England...
as colonial surgeon
Surgery
Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
. He scandalised settler opinion by appointing an emancipist, Andrew Thompson, as a magistrate, and by inviting emancipists to tea at Government House. In exchange, Macquarie demanded that the ex-convicts live reformed (Christian) lives. He required that former convicts regularly attend church services, and in particular, strongly encouraged formal Christian (Anglican) marriages.
Macquarie was the greatest sponsor of exploration the colony had yet seen. In 1813 he sent Blaxland
Gregory Blaxland
Gregory Blaxland was a pioneer farmer and explorer in Australia.- Early life :Gregory Blaxland was born 17 June 1778 at Fordwich, Kent, England, the fourth son of John Blaxland, mayor from 1767 to 1774, whose family had owned estates nearby for generations, and Mary, daughter of Captain Parker,...
, Wentworth
William Wentworth
William Charles Wentworth was an Australian poet, explorer, journalist and politician, and one of the leading figures of early colonial New South Wales...
and Lawson across the Blue Mountains, where they found the great plains of the interior. There he ordered the establishment of Bathurst
Bathurst, New South Wales
-CBD and suburbs:Bathurst's CBD is located on William, George, Howick, Russell, and Durham Streets. The CBD is approximately 25 hectares and surrounds two city blocks. Within this block layout is banking, government services, shopping centres, retail shops, a park* and monuments...
, Australia's first inland city. He appointed John Oxley
John Oxley
John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley was an explorer and surveyor of Australia in the early period of English colonisation.October 1802 he was engaged in coastal survey work including an expedition to Western Port in 1804-05...
as surveyor-general and sent him on expeditions up the coast of New South Wales and inland to find new rivers and new lands for settlement. Oxley discovered the rich Northern Rivers and New England
New England (Australia)
New England or New England North West is the name given to a generally undefined region about 60 kilometres inland, that includes the Northern Tablelands and the North West Slopes regions in the north of the state of New South Wales, Australia.-History:The region has been occupied by Indigenous...
regions of New South Wales, and in what is now Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
he explored the present site of Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
.
The street layout of modern central Sydney is based upon a street plan established by Macquarie. The colony's most prestigious buildings were built on Macquarie Street
Macquarie Street, Sydney
Macquarie Street is the easternmost street of Sydney's central business district. Macquarie Street extends from Hyde Park at its southern end to the Sydney Opera House at its north.-Description:...
. Some of these still stand today. What has survived of the Georgian 'Rum Hospital' serves as the Parliament House of the state of New South Wales. It is probable that the hospital was designed by Macquarie himself, in collaboration with his wife. The building's wide verandas were evidently inspired by Macquarie's familiarity with English colonial architecture in India. The elaborate stables which Macquarie commissioned for Government House are part of the modern structure housing the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Both of these buildings were constructed by Macquarie in defiance of the British government's ban on expensive public building projects in the colony and reflect the tension between Macquarie's vision of Sydney as a Georgian city and the British government's view of the colony as a dumping ground for convicts to be financed as cheaply as possible.
The origin of the name "Australia" is closely associated with Macquarie. "Australia", as a name for the country which we now know by that name, was suggested by Matthew Flinders
Matthew Flinders
Captain Matthew Flinders RN was one of the most successful navigators and cartographers of his age. In a career that spanned just over twenty years, he sailed with Captain William Bligh, circumnavigated Australia and encouraged the use of that name for the continent, which had previously been...
, but first used in an official despatch by Macquarie in 1817.
Macquarie's policies, especially his championing of the emancipists and the lavish expenditure of government money on public works, aroused opposition both in the colony and in London, where the government still saw New South Wales as fundamentally a penal colony. His statement, in a letter to the Colonial Secretary, that "free settlers in general... are by far the most discontented persons in the country" and that "emancipated convicts, or persons become free by servitude
Servitude
Servitude may refer to:* Service* Conscription* Employment* Slavery* Indentured servitude* Involuntary servitude* Penal servitude* Servitude * Equitable servitude, a term of real estate law* Servitude in civil law...
, made in many instances the best description of settlers", was much held against him.
Despite opposition from the British government, Macquarie encouraged the creation of the colony's first bank, the Bank of New South Wales
Westpac
Westpac , is a multinational financial services, one of the Australian "big four" banks and the second-largest bank in New Zealand....
, in 1817.
Return to Scotland, death, and legacy
Leaders of the free settler community complained to London about Macquarie's policies, and in 1819 the government appointed an English judge, John BiggeJohn Bigge
John Thomas Bigge was an English judge and royal commissioner.Bigge was born at Benton House, Northumberland, England, the second son of Thomas Charles Bigge, High Sheriff of Northumberland in 1771...
, to visit New South Wales and report on its administration. Bigge generally agreed with the settlers' criticisms, and his reports on the colony led to Macquarie's resignation in 1821; he had, however, served longer than any other governor. Bigge also recommended that no governor should again be allowed to rule as an autocrat, and in 1824 the New South Wales Legislative Council
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...
, Australia's first legislative body, was appointed to advise the governor.
Macquarie returned to Scotland, and died in London in 1824 while busy defending himself against Bigge's charges. But his reputation continued to grow after his death, especially among the emancipists and their descendants, who were the majority of the Australian population until the gold rushes. Today he is regarded by many as the real founder of Australia as a country, rather than as a prison camp.
The nationalist school of Australian historians have treated him as a proto-nationalist hero. His grave in Mull is maintained by the National Trust of Australia
National Trust of Australia
The Australian Council of National Trusts is the peak body for community-based, non-government organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's indigenous, natural and historic heritage....
and is inscribed "The Father of Australia". Macquarie formally adopted the name Australia for the continent, the name earlier proposed by the first circumnavigator of Australia, Matthew Flinders
Matthew Flinders
Captain Matthew Flinders RN was one of the most successful navigators and cartographers of his age. In a career that spanned just over twenty years, he sailed with Captain William Bligh, circumnavigated Australia and encouraged the use of that name for the continent, which had previously been...
. As well as the many geographical features named after him in his lifetime, he is commemorated by Macquarie University
Macquarie University
Macquarie University is an Australian public teaching and research university located in Sydney, with its main campus situated in Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of Sydney...
in Sydney.
Macquarie was buried on the Isle of Mull
Isle of Mull
The Isle of Mull or simply Mull is the second largest island of the Inner Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland in the council area of Argyll and Bute....
in a remote mausoleum with his wife and son.
Places named after Macquarie
Many places in Australia have been named in Macquarie's honour (some of these were named by Macquarie himself). They include:At the time of his governorship or shortly thereafter:
- Macquarie IslandMacquarie IslandMacquarie Island lies in the southwest corner of the Pacific Ocean, about half-way between New Zealand and Antarctica, at 54°30S, 158°57E. Politically, it has formed part of the Australian state of Tasmania since 1900 and became a Tasmanian State Reserve in 1978. In 1997 it became a world heritage...
between TasmaniaTasmaniaTasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
and Antarctica - Lake MacquarieLake Macquarie (New South Wales)Lake Macquarie is Australia's largest coastal salt water lake, covering an area of in the Hunter Region of New South Wales with most of the City of Lake Macquarie's residents living near its shores. It is connected to the Tasman Sea by a short channel. Lake Macquarie is twice as large as Sydney...
on the coast of New South WalesNew South WalesNew 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...
between Sydney and NewcastleNewcastle, New South WalesThe Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...
renamed after Macquarie in 1826 - Macquarie RiverMacquarie RiverThe Macquarie River is one of the main inland rivers in New South Wales. Its headwaters rise in the central highlands of New South Wales near the town of Oberon. The river travels generally northwest past the towns of Bathurst, Wellington, Dubbo, Narromine, and Warren to the Macquarie Marshes...
a significant inland river in New South WalesNew South WalesNew 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...
which passes BathurstBathurst, New South Wales-CBD and suburbs:Bathurst's CBD is located on William, George, Howick, Russell, and Durham Streets. The CBD is approximately 25 hectares and surrounds two city blocks. Within this block layout is banking, government services, shopping centres, retail shops, a park* and monuments...
, WellingtonWellington, New South WalesWellington is a town in inland New South Wales, Australia located at the junction of the Macquarie and Bell Rivers. The town is the administrative centre of the Wellington Shire Local Government Area. The town is 362 kilometres from Sydney on the Great Western Highway and Mitchell Highway...
, Dubbo and WarrenWarren, New South WalesWarren is a town and the seat of a local government area, Warren Shire, on the Macquarie River in central New South Wales, Australia. The town is located on the Oxley Highway 120 kilometres north west of Dubbo. It was laid out in the 1860s and incorporated as a municipality in 1895. The railway...
before entering the Macquarie MarshesMacquarie MarshesThe Macquarie Marshes comprise the wetlands associated with the floodplains of the Macquarie River and its tributaries, in northern New South Wales, Australia. The Macquarie River and the marshes eventually drain into the Darling River...
and the Barwon RiverBarwon River (New South Wales)The Barwon River flows through New South Wales, virtually as a continuation of the Macintyre River / Border Rivers system, before joining with the Culgoa River to form the Darling River... - Mount Macquarie, highest point in the Blayney ShireBlayney, New South WalesBlayney is a farming town and administrative centre with a population of 2,745 in 2006, in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia...
at 1100 metres above sea level. For a time it was named Mount Lachlan - Lachlan RiverLachlan River- Course :The river rises in the central highland of New South Wales, part of the Great Dividing Range, 13 km east of Gunning. Its major headwaters, the Carcoar River, the Belubula River and the Abercrombie River converge near the town of Cowra. Minor tributaries include the Morongla Creek...
, another significant river in New South Wales - Port Macquarie, a city at the mouth of the Hastings RiverHastings RiverThe Hastings River is a large river on the Mid North Coast of the Australian state of New South Wales that empties into the Tasman Sea, a branch of the South Pacific Ocean, at Port Macquarie....
on the Mid North Coast of New South WalesNew South WalesNew 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... - Macquarie PassMacquarie PassMacquarie Pass is a 8 kilometre long section of the Illawarra Highway passing through Macquarie Pass National Park. It was opened in 1898.Macquarie Pass links the Southern Highland town of Robertson to the coastal town of Albion Park, descending the Illawarra Escarpment via a very narrow bitumen...
, a route traversing the escarpment between the IllawarraIllawarraIllawarra is a region in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is a coastal region situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the Shoalhaven or South Coast region. It encompasses the cities of Wollongong, Shellharbour, Shoalhaven and the town of Kiama. The central region contains Lake...
district and the Southern Highlands district of New South Wales - Macquarie RivuletMacquarie RivuletMacquarie Rivulet is a river in New South Wales which is 23 kilometres long. It rises near Robertson, New South Wales and drains the eastern edge of the Southern Highlands plateau and part of the Illawarra escarpment. It flows through Albion Park Rail, then goes into Lake Illawarra and indirectly...
, a river 23 kilometres long which rises near Robertson, New South WalesRobertson, New South WalesRobertson is a small town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in Wingecarribee Shire. The town is located on the edge of an elevated plateau about 35 km from the coast. At the 2006 census, Robertson had a population of 1,206 people.Robertson is known for its high annual...
and drains into Lake IllawarraLake IllawarraLake Illawarra is a large coastal lagoon located in the city of Wollongong about 100 km south of Sydney, New South Wales.The lake receives runoff from the Illawarra escarpment through Macquarie Rivulet and Mullet Creek, and has a narrow tidal entrance to the sea at Windang... - Around Sydney:
- Macquarie StreetMacquarie Street, SydneyMacquarie Street is the easternmost street of Sydney's central business district. Macquarie Street extends from Hyde Park at its southern end to the Sydney Opera House at its north.-Description:...
, one of the principal streets of downtown Sydney, home of the New South Wales Parliament - Macquarie PlaceMacquarie PlaceMacquarie Place is a small triangular park in downtown Sydney, Australia. It is located at the corner of Bridge Street and Loftus Street, and is named after Governor Lachlan Macquarie.- History :...
a small park in the Sydney CBD - Macquarie LighthouseMacquarie LighthouseThe Macquarie Lighthouse, also known as South Head Upper Light, was the first, and is the longest serving, lighthouse site in Australia. It is located on Dunbar Head, Vaucluse near the entrance to Sydney Harbour. There has been a navigational aid in this vicinity since 1791 and a lighthouse near...
, Australia's first and longest operating navigational light - The former Fort Macquarie on Bennelong PointBennelong Point, New South WalesBennelong Point is the location of the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia . It was called Tubowghule by the indigenous Eora peoples....
- Macquarie FieldsMacquarie Fields, New South WalesMacquarie Fields is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Macquarie Fields is located 42 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Campbelltown and is part of the Macarthur region.Macquarie Fields has a mix...
, now a suburb of Sydney but named by surveyor Evans after the governor
- Macquarie Street
- In Tasmania:
- Macquarie StreetMacquarie Street, HobartMacquarie Street is one of the main streets of the central business district of the city of Hobart, capital of Tasmania, Australia. It is part of the A6, technically making it part of the Huon Highway...
, one of the principal streets of HobartHobartHobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as... - Macquarie Street, one of the principal streets of the historic town of EvandaleEvandale, TasmaniaEvandale is a small town in northern Tasmania, Australia. It sits on the banks of the South Esk River 18 km south of Launceston. A classified historic town, many of its buildings remain largely in original condition...
, a town he founded in 1811 - Macquarie HarbourMacquarie HarbourMacquarie Harbour is a large, shallow, but navigable by shallow draft vessels inlet on the West Coast of Tasmania, Australia.-History:James Kelly wrote in his narrative "First Discovery of Port Davey and Macquarie Harbour" how he sailed from Hobart in a small open five-oared whaleboat to discover...
, on the west coast - Macquarie RiverMacquarie River (Tasmania)The Macquarie River in Tasmania rises near Lake Leake, flowing south and then north-west and through the town of Ross before flowing into the South Esk River near Longford. The Elizabeth, Isis and Lake rivers are tributaries....
- Macquarie Street
- In New South Wales,
- Macquarie Hill, formerly known as Mount Macquarie, in Wingecarribee Shire, Southern Highlands, New South WalesSouthern Highlands, New South WalesThe Southern Highlands, also locally referred to as the Highlands, is a geographical region and district in New South Wales, Australia and is 110 km south-west of Sydney. The entire region is under the local government area of the Wingecarribee Shire...
- Macquarie Pier, built in 1818 on the Hunter RiverHunter RiverThe Hunter River is a major river in New South Wales, Australia. The Hunter River rises in the Liverpool Range and flows generally south and then east, reaching the Pacific Ocean at Newcastle, the second largest city in New South Wales and a major port....
for the port of Newcastle, a breakwater linking Coal Island, now known as Nobby's Head, to the mainland at South Head (now Fort Scratchley) - The Macquarie Arms Hotel at Windsor, New South WalesWindsor, New South WalesWindsor is a town in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Windsor is located in the local government area of the City of Hawkesbury. It sits on the Hawkesbury River, on the north-western outskirts of the Sydney metropolitan area. At the 2006 census, Windsor had a population of...
built in 1815. It ceased operating in 1840, but reopened in 1874 and has been used continuously as a hotel ever since. Windsor also contains a Macquarie Street. - Lachlan Macquarie Ward, Parramatta, New South WalesParramatta, New South WalesParramatta is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located in Greater Western Sydney west of the Sydney central business district on the banks of the Parramatta River. Parramatta is the administrative seat of the Local Government Area of the City of Parramatta...
- Macquarie Hill, formerly known as Mount Macquarie, in Wingecarribee Shire, Southern Highlands, New South Wales
Many years after his governorship:
- Macquarie ParkMacquarie Park, New South WalesMacquarie Park is a suburb in northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Macquarie Park is located 12 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Ryde...
and Macquarie LinksMacquarie Links, New South WalesMacquarie Links is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Macquarie Links is located 42 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Campbelltown and is part of the Macarthur region.Macquarie Links is a gated...
, suburbs of Sydney. - Macquarie Shopping CentreMacquarie CentreMacquarie Centre is a regional sized shopping centre located between Herring, Waterloo and Talevera Roads in the suburb of Macquarie Park in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and opposite Macquarie University's main campus....
, North Ryde - MacquarieMacquarie, Australian Capital TerritoryMacquarie is a suburb of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Macquarie was gazetted as a division on 22 June 1967 in recognition of Major-General Lachlan Macquarie, a former Governor of New South Wales. Streets in Macquarie are named after contemporaries of Governor...
, a suburb of CanberraCanberraCanberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
, Australia - Lachlan Street, Macquarie, Canberra, Australia
- Division of MacquarieDivision of MacquarieThe Division of Macquarie is an Australian Electoral Division in New South Wales. The division was created in 1900 and was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election. It is named for Lachlan Macquarie, who was Governor of New South Wales between 1810 and 1821...
, one of the first 75 Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives created for the Australian Parliament in 1901.
Institutions named after Macquarie:
- Macquarie Hospital, Sydney
- Macquarie UniversityMacquarie UniversityMacquarie University is an Australian public teaching and research university located in Sydney, with its main campus situated in Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of Sydney...
, Sydney - Macquarie Bank, an investment bank founded in 1970
Places named after/in honour of Mrs Macquarie
- Places named after or in honour of Macquarie's wife, ElizabethElizabeth MacquarieElizabeth Macquarie was the second wife of Lachlan Macquarie who served as Governor of New South Wales from 1810 to 1821. She played a significant role in the establishment of the colony and is recognised in the naming of numerous Australian landmarks including Mrs Macquarie's Chair, Campbelltown...
(née Campbell; 1778–1835): - Elizabeth StreetElizabeth Street, HobartElizabeth Street is a major street which runs North-South through the city and suburbs of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. It is named after Elizabeth Macquarie, the wife of the Governor of New South Wales from 1810-1821, Lachlan Macquarie....
, a principal street of Hobart, Tasmania named after Macquarie's wife - Elizabeth StreetElizabeth Street, SydneyElizabeth Street is a street in Sydney, Australia.-Description and history:Elizabeth Street runs south from Hunter Street, past Hyde Park and David Jones, Central station and through the inner city suburbs of Surry Hills, Redfern, Waterloo and Zetland...
, Sydney, one of the principal streets of Sydney, named after Macquarie's wife - Elizabeth BayElizabeth Bay, New South WalesElizabeth 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....
, a bay of Port Jackson and suburb of Sydney - Mrs Macquarie's ChairMrs Macquarie's ChairMrs Macquarie's Chair is an exposed sandstone rock cut into the shape of a bench, on a peninsula in Sydney Harbour, hand carved by convicts from sandstone in 1810 for Governor Macquarie's wife Elizabeth. The peninsula itself is named Mrs Macquaries Point...
, a rock cut into a chair shape on Mrs Macquarie's Point, a peninsula in Port JacksonPort JacksonPort Jackson, containing Sydney Harbour, is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia. It is known for its beauty, and in particular, as the location of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge...
, at the end of Mrs Macquarie's Road - Campbelltown, New South WalesCampbelltown, New South WalesCampbelltown is a suburb in south-western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Campbelltown is located 51 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the City of Campbelltown.- History :Campbelltown...
, a town founded in 1820, one of a series of settlements south-west of Sydney being established by Macquarie at that time - Appin, New South WalesAppin, New South WalesAppin is a town in the Macarthur Region of New South Wales, Australia in Wollondilly Shire. It is situated about 16 kilometres south of Campbelltown and 35 kilometres north west of Wollongong.-Early history:...
, a town founded in 1811, which takes its name from AppinAppinAppin is a remote coastal district of the Scottish West Highlands bounded west by Loch Linnhe, south by Loch Creran, east by the districts of Benderloch and Lorne, and north by Loch Leven...
, the Scottish West Highlands town where Elizabeth was born - Airds, New South WalesAirds, New South WalesAirds is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Airds is located 56 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Campbelltown and is part of the Macarthur region....
, a suburb in south-western Sydney, which takes its name from Elizabeth's Scottish family estate - Meredith Island off the coast of New South Wales was reportedly named after a friend of Mrs Elizabeth Macquarie
Commemoration of Macquarie's birthplace
- Mull: The Macquarie connection is distinguished, in particular, by the extremely large number of place names in New South Wales and Tasmania whose origins are derived from locations and features on the Isle of Mull and its environs. Macquarie used his governorship as an opportunity to commemorate, through nostalgic place names, the places and personal associations that he had kept with Mull since his boyhood. Place names include:
- Glenorchy, TasmaniaGlenorchy, TasmaniaGlenorchy is a business district and suburb in the northern part of greater Hobart, capital of the state of Tasmania, Australia. The land was originally used for agriculture but is now a largely suburban, working-class area...
- Hamilton, TasmaniaHamilton, TasmaniaHamilton is a small rural town north west of Hobart in Tasmania on the Lyell Highway. At the 2006 census, the town and surrounding area had a population of 300....
- North EskNorth Esk RiverThe North Esk River is a river in Tasmania, Australia. It is one of the tributaries of the Tamar River together with the South Esk River. It starts in the Northallerton Valley below Mt Ben Nevis in the states North East joining with the St Patricks River, flowing through Launceston. Launceston's...
and South EskSouth Esk RiverThe South Esk River is the longest river in Tasmania. It starts in the mountains near Fingal flowing through Avoca, Evandale, Longford, Hadspen and finally Launceston. The river is dammed at Trevallyn Dam near Launceston and used for the city's Hydro Electricity scheme...
rivers