Lachlan Macquarie | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 5th Governor of New South Wales | |
| In office 1 January 1810 – 30 November 1821 | |
| Monarchs | George III George IV |
| Preceded by | William Bligh |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Brisbane |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 31 January 1762 Ulva, Inner Hebrides, Scotland |
| Died | 1 July 1824 (aged 62) London, England |
| Spouse(s) | Jane Jarvis (m. 1792–1796) Elizabeth Campbell (m. 1807) |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | British Army |
| Rank | Major General |
| Commands | 73rd (Perthshire) Regiment of Foot |
| Battles/wars | American Revolutionary War Napoleonic Wars Australian Frontier Wars |
| Awards | Companion of the Order of the Bath |
Major General Lachlan Macquarie, CB (/məˈkwɒrɪ/; Scottish Gaelic: Lachlann MacGuaire; 31 January 1762 – 1 July 1824)[1] was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Scotland. Macquarie served as the fifth Governor of New South Wales from 1810 to 1821,[2] and had a leading role in the social, economic, and architectural development of the colony. He is considered by 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.[3][4]
Macquarie played a central role in urban planning in the colony. He had a significant impact on the development of modern Sydney, establishing the layout upon which the modern city centre is based, establishing Hyde Park as Australia's first public park, overseeing the construction of various public buildings along Macquarie Street, and devising the layouts of a number of settlements which today are part of Western Sydney. He also ordered the designing of a street layout for Hobart. A supporter of exploration, Macquarie authorised the 1813 expedition across the Blue Mountains, the first successful British traversal of the region. He ordered the establishment of Bathurst, the first inland British settlement in Australia.
While seeking to promote morality and orderliness, Macquarie favoured the liberal treatment of ex-convicts, known as emancipists, appointing them to prominent government positions and providing generous land grants.
Despite expressing a desire for Aboriginal peoples to be treated kindly, in 1816 he gave orders that led to the Appin Massacre of Gundungurra and Dharawal people during the Hawkesbury and Nepean Wars.[5][6][7]
- ^ McLachlan 1967.
- ^ Davison, Hirst & MacIntyre 1998, p. 405.
- ^ Ward 1975, p. 37–38.
- ^ Molony 1987, p. 47.
- ^ Marlow 2016.
- ^ Kohen 1993.
- ^ Kass 2005.