Engagement & Return To India

After Lachlan Macquarie asked Elizabeth Campbell of Airds to become his wife on 26 March 1805 there were many uncertainties to be faced, as well as many questions left unanswered. Why was he not taking her with him to India? What dangers would he face on the voyage back to Bombay? How long would it take? How long would he be away?

Macquarie departed for India on board the East Indiaman City of London under the command of Captain William Landon on 25 April. After a voyage of approximately 15 weeks he arrived again in Bombay on 12 August where he became acquainted again with many of his old 'India friends'. One week later he visited the gravesite of his first wife, Jane, (nee Jarvis) who had died in Macao, China, in July 1796 (from tuberculosis) and whose body Macquarie had arranged to be buried in the European Cemetery in Bombay in January 1797.

In the latter months of 1805 Lachlan Macquarie's diary entries become more sparse, with observations principally upon administrative and political developments in the Presidencies of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. In particular, the illness of the Marquis of Cornwallis, Governor-General of India, and the arrival of the Persian Ambassador in Bombay. In November Macquarie describes his preparations for joining the 86th Regiment as part of the next British military expedition against Holkar and the Maratha Confederacy in Gujerat. He records the death of Cornwallis near Benares [on 5 October] and the subsequent public mourning that took place in Bombay. He also makes reference to the unconfirmed news he has received of his promotion to the Lieutenant-Colonelcy of the 73rd. Regiment – now stationed in Britain.

Letter

To Sir James Henry Craig.
10 February 1805