Macquarie Tombs (in Scotland & India)

Isle of Mull: Macquarie Family
| Structure | History | Inscriptions & Transcripts |

Bombay (Mumbai): Jane Macquarie
| History | Inscriptions & Transcripts |

Isle of Mull, Scotland: Macquarie Family Tomb:

The Macquarie Family tomb is situated on the Isle of Mull, approximately 0.6 km NW of the original Macquarie home at Gruline. It is set in a grassed area surrounded by a circular stone wall with wrought iron gates. The site may be reached via the B8035 road leading westward from Salen. Turn left at the signpost labelled: 'The MacQuarie Mausoleum' [sic] (west of St. Columba's Church at Gruline).

Tomb Structure
The mausoleum is a plain gable-ended sandstone structure of ashlar masonry, with buttressed sidewalls, sloping stone-slabbed roof and two stone finials (one on each end). Two marble panels (one red, one white) seal the entrance doorways in the gable-walls.

Tomb History
The Macquarie burial plot at Gruline must be considered as dating from July/August 1824, following the death of Lachlan Macquarie. There is no evidence that any other interments had occupied the site prior to this time. At this time, Elizabeth Macquarie buried her husband, along with the remains of their infant daughter, Jane,(who had died aged 3 months in Perth in December 1808) in this new burial ground. It would be number of years before she was financially able to erect a proper headstone - and its installation c.1832 coincides with her decision to return to live on Mull for the final years of her life. Elizabeth, herself, passed away in March 1835, and was buried within the burial ground. Ten years later, in May 1845, the only surviving child, Lachlan, died, and was interred with his parents and sister.

The erection of the mausoleum has been attributed to the Strathallan [Drummond] family in c1851-1852; though there is a possibility that this may also have been, in part, an initiative of Isabella Hamilton Dundas Macquarie (nee Campbell of Jura and Craignish), the widow of Lachlan Jnr. (1814-1845). Certainly by November 1851 the Strathallan family had successfully defended the validity and provisions of Lachlan Jnr.'s Will where he bequeathed the Jarvisfield and Glenforsa estates in the favour of William Henry Drummond, 9th Viscount Strathallan. He was the son of James Drummond (8th Viscount Strathallan) who had acted as guardian of the young Lachlan Macquarie Jnr. The Will had been challenged by Charles, eldest son of Charles Macquarie; but with the failure of this legal challenge all the former lands of the Macquarie brothers, Lachlan (1761-1824) and Charles(1771-1835), passed into other hands. The inaccuracies in the inscription on the white granite headstone indicate a certain degree of unfamiliarity with the Macquarie family.

For many years the state of the Macquarie mausoleum remained sadly neglected. Eventually, on 6 October 1948, the mausoleum site was gifted by Lady Yarborough, the owner of the 'Jarvisfield' estate (1948-49), to the people of New South Wales through an Australian Trust consisting of the Union Trustee Co. of Australia and the Royal Australian Historical Society. In 1957 the tomb was repaired with the proceeds of a fund established in New South Wales through the efforts of A.E. Heath (former NSW Agent General in London) and M.H. Ellis (Australian journalist, and biographer of Lachlan Macquarie). Invaluable assistance was provided on Mull by Colonel G. Miller of Torosay Castle; and later a committee of the National Trust of Australia was formed to administer the funds and to work in co-operation with Col. Miller and the National Trust for Scotland.

Important restoration work was carried out on the grounds surrounding the mausoleum throughout the period 1960-1980. This involved the elimination of a number of large yew, elm and beech trees growing adjacent to the tomb: they posed a threat (by falling) on the roof and walls of the structure during severe winter storms. Similarly, the spike-headed iron railing surrounding the tomb had become twisted and rusted with age and needed to be removed (1964/1965). Repairs were carried out on the enclosing stone wall (and fresh stone-capping added), and new iron entry gates were installed. In the early 1970's restoration work was also carried out on the red granite inscription [prepared by Elizabeth Macquarie in memory of her husband Lachlan] located on the southern face of the mausoleum.

The financial responsibility for the upkeep of the tomb was subsequently taken over by the National Trust of Australia, and a regular maintenance program was instituted for the upkeep of the grounds, with assistance from the National Trust for Scotland. Additional funding was provided by the Macquarie Bank (Australia) towards the restoration of the tomb and the upgrading of its surrounds in c2002.

Inscriptions
There are tomb inscriptions on south-eastern and north-western faces of the mausoleum.

The first and oldest inscription is dedicated to Lachlan Macquarie and is "of Peterhead red granite seven feet six inches long, four feet two inches broad, and six and half inches thick. The letters and arms are inlaid with black cement, glossed and polished."

see: Transcription (Lachlan Macquarie)

The second inscription, in white granite, records the interment of Lachlan and Elizabeth Macquarie, and their two children Jane and Lachlan. This inscription dates from after 1845 and is mounted on the north-western face of the mausoleum.

see: Transcription (Macquarie Family)

It is unclear at what stage the mausoleum was erected on the site. It seems doubtful that Elizabeth would have had the financial resources to construct such an edifice, and so it seems more likely that it was built by the Strathallan family in the 1850's [after the resolution of the court challenge to the validity of Lachlan Macquarie's Jnr's. contentious 1845 Will in favour of William Strathallan]. Some of the errors of dating and spelling on the white marble inscription on the NW face suggest that someone not fully conversant with the family history prepared the inscription.

Sources
Macquarie, Lachlan. Memoranda and Related Papers. 22 Dec. 1808 - 14 July 1823. (Mitchell Library, Sydney) ML Ref:A772 CY Reel 301 #232]
National Trust Bulletin. November 1963, p.8.
The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Argyll: an Inventory of Monuments. Volume 3. Mull, Tiree, Coll & Northern Argyll. Edinburgh, HMSO, 1980. (Entry No. 317. [pp.158-159]).
Conolly, Pauline. "The Strange Story of the Macquarie Mausoleum." Quadrant. June 2009 pp.66-68.

Bombay (Mumbai), India: Jane Macquarie Tomb:

Tomb History
Lachlan Macquarie's first wife, Jane (nee Jarvis) (1772-1796) was buried in the European Cemetery, Queen's Road, Bombay, India. She died in Macao, China, on 15 July 1796 (aged 23 years and 9 months) from tuberculosis. Macquarie returned her body to India in a specially constructed coffin made by Chinese artisans. She was buried at 5.30 pm on 16 January 1797.

The last description of the tomb was recorded in c1944 by R. W. Munro. Unfortunately, the tomb itself is no longer extant - it was destroyed in the 1950's when the cemetery was converted into a public park.

Inscription
The grief-stricken Lachlan wrote a 475-word epitaph extolling Jane's virtues and arranged for this to be inscribed in England on black marble and shipped out to India. The first tombstone was damaged in transit and a second one had to be commissioned. This was finally shipped out to India and installed in the cemetery along the Esplanade in Bombay. The tomb was unveiled on 16 October 1800.

see: Transcription (Jane Macquarie)

Sources:
Munro, R. W. Lachlan Macquarrie XVI of Ulva, with Notes on some Clansmen in India. Karachi, Private Publication (100 copies), 1944.

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