Macquarie’s life

There are few details of Lachlan’s early years and education. His uncle, Murdoch Maclaine, paid for Lachlan’s education. In 1776, at the age of 15, Lachlan joined the British Army as a volunteer.

America (1777–1783)

In 1777, Macquarie obtained an ensigncy in the 2nd battalion of the 84th Regiment, known as the Royal Highland Emigrants, and served in Canada at Halifax and other parts of Nova Scotia.

He was commissioned a lieutenant in the 71st Regiment in January 1781 and performed garrison duty in New York and Charleston at the closing stages of the American War of Independence.

In 1783 he was garrisoned in Jamaica. On 28 October, he sailed for a storm-battered 17 weeks and five days before reaching home on 29 February 1784. He spent the next few years helping out on the family farm at Oskamull, on Mull.

India (1787–1801)

In 1787, Macquarie took up a commission as a lieutenant in the 77th Regiment, and began a long association with India.

He saw much active service on the subcontinent, especially in the south, where he was present at:

• the sieges of Cannanore (1790), Seringapatam (1791 and 1799) and Cochin (1795)
• the capture of the Dutch fortresses at Negombo, Colombo and Point de Galle (1796) in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka)
• the Battle of Sedaseer (1799).

On 28 September 1793, Macquarie married Jane Jarvis. Unfortunately, their marriage was brief and childless. She died of tuberculosis at Macao, in China, on 15 July 1796.

Egypt (1801–1802)

In March 1801, while military secretary to Jonathan Duncan, Governor of Bombay, Macquarie was appointed deputy-adjutant-general to the 8000-strong army that was sent to Egypt to expel the French. Here, Macquarie was able to meet up with his brother Charles, whom he had not seen since 1788. They were able to spend several weeks together and discuss future plans for purchasing land on the Isle of Mull.

On 11 February 1802, Lachlan discovered that he had been appointed as from 15 January 1801 to an effective majority in the 86th Regiment.

Britain (1803–1804)

Macquarie returned to England in 1803 to attend to financial matters and to enjoy the social whirl of London after so many years abroad. He was presented to the King and Queen (on two occasions), dined with members of the royal family and peerage, attended balls and the theatre, had his portrait painted by noted Cornish artist John Opie and finally, after 12 months, travelled to Scotland to visit family and friends.

India (1805–1807)

On 25 April 1805, Macquarie sailed for India where he was promoted to lieutenant–colonel of the 73rd Regiment. After serving in northern India until 1806, he undertook to return to Britain carrying government despatches. After sailing from Bombay to the Persian Gulf, where he narrowly escaped drowning, he then travelled overland to London via Baghdad, Moscow and St Petersburg.

Britain (1807–1809)

The real reason for Macquarie’s return was to marry his distant cousin Elizabeth Henrietta Campbell, whom he had met in 1804. He had proposed to her in March 1805 but asked her to keep their engagement secret and wait until his return from India. They married on 3 November 1807. The bride was 29 years old and the groom 46. Elizabeth gave birth to their daughter, Jane, on 15 September 1808, but unfortunately the child died on 5 December the same year.

In April 1809, Macquarie was appointed Governor of New South Wales – designated to replace William Bligh whose governorship had been controversial. Macquarie and his wife sailed from Portsmouth and arrived at Port Jackson on 28 December. He took up his commission as governor on 1 January 1810.

From the outset, Macquarie saw the colony as a community as well as a penal settlement. However, his term of office also coincided with an increase in the number of convicts sent to the colony. His solution was to commence an ambitious program of public works (new buildings, towns and roads) to help absorb these numbers. He also extended the practice of ticket-of-leave for convicts.

This policy of encouraging convicts and former convicts (emancipists) brought him into conflict with an influential conservative section of the local society. This group, known as the ‘exclusives’, sought to restrict civil rights and judicial privileges to itself. Many of these free settlers also had influential friends in English political circles.

Frustration and recurring bouts of illness led him to submit his resignation on several occasions. A serious illness in 1819 almost proved fatal, and the pressures of a commission of inquiry into the state of the colony reinforced his desire to end his term of office and return home to defend the charges made against his administration. Finally, at the end of 1820, he learnt that his third application for resignation had been accepted.

However, it was not until 12 February 1822 that he and his wife and son departed for England. On 28 March 1814, after six miscarriages, Elizabeth had given birth to a son, who they named Lachlan.

Britain and Europe (1822–1823)

Worried about Elizabeth’s health, Macquarie took her and Lachlan, with servants and a tutor, on a grand tour through France, Italy and Switzerland for the better part of two years.

Scotland (1824)

Finally, in January 1824, Macquarie returned to his Jarvisfield estate on Mull. However, a number of matters still remained to be resolved with the government, and in April 1824, he went to London to secure the pension that he had been promised. Unfortunately, while he was there he suffered an attack of strangury – a severe inflammation of the kidneys, bladder and urinary tract.

Elizabeth hurried down from Mull with their son, in time to see Macquarie before he died at 49 Duke Street, St James, on 1 July 1824. His body was transported back to Mull by sea and he was buried on his estate at Jarvisfield.