Guide to the Papers of the Macquarie family (as filmed by the AJCP), 1782-06 August 1839

Request this via the Catalogue

Filter Online content

Some materials from this collection are available online.

Show only online content

Online content

View online

Summary

Collection number:

M460

Creator:

Macquarie Family

Extent:

15 items

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.

Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February-23 September 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-987654321)

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for reference.

Background

Content Summary:

Volume entitled 'Paybook of the Grenadier Company 71st Regiment' containing accounts of payments to soldiers by Macquarie 1782-1783, his accounts with sundry people 1784-1786, and the roll of the Company and casualties 1782-1783.

Letters and documents relating to Lachlan Macquarie including letters 1784-1804 from Lachlan to his uncle Murdoch Maclaine on personal, family and military matters, written mainly from Bombay, Alexandria and London; letters to his brother Charles and to his sister-in-law concerning the death of her son in Ceylon in 1818.

Letter 1794 from Jane, first wife of Lachlan Macquarie, to his mother and two letters from Lachlan Macquarie's mother to her brother.

Letters 1793-1802 from Charles Macquarie to his uncle Murdoch Maclaine and to his cousin Murdoch Maclaine 1813-1834 on personal, family, military and estate matters; miscellaneous letters and copies of letters 1793-1835 to and from Charles Macquarie including two from his son 1835; and documents relating to Charles Macquarie's estate.

Selections 1794-1804 relating to the Macquarie Family from the letter-books of Murdoch Maclaine containing very brief notes of letters sent to various correspondents.

Correspondence 1835-1839 between Lachlan Macquarie, son of Governor Macquarie, and his cousin Murdoch Maclaine including references to interests in New South Wales.

Biographical / Historical:

Lachlan Macquarie (1762-1824) was the son of Lachlan Macquarie (d. c.1775) and his wife Margaret (1728-1810), who was the sister of Murdoch Maclaine, the 18th Laird of Lochbuie. He was born on the island of Ulva, in the Inner Hebrides. In 1776 he enlisted in the Army and served with the 84th Regiment and later the 71st Regiment in North America and Jamaica. In 1787 he joined the 77th Regiment and sailed to India, where he was promptly appointed a Captain-Lieutenant. He was promoted to Brevet-Major in 1796. In 1801 he accompanied General Sir David Baird as Deputy Adjutant General on an expedition to expel the French forces from Egypt. He left India in 1803 and, with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, served under Lord Harrington as assistant Adjutant-General of the London district. He joined the 73rd Regiment in India in 1805 and returned to England in 1807. A year later the Government decided to send the 73rd Regiment to New South Wales with a new governor and in 1809 Macquarie was appointed to the position. He was made a Colonel in 1810. In Sydney, Macquarie was sworn in on 1 January 1810 and he remained in the colony until February 1822. The second longest-serving governor in New South Wales history, he presided over an extraordinary transformation of the previously struggling convict colony.

Jane Macquarie (1772-1796), the daughter of Thomas Jarvis, was the first wife of Lachlan Macquarie. They married in 1793.

Elizabeth Macquarie (1778-1835), the daughter of Campbell of Airds, was the second wife of Lachlan Macquarie. They married in 1807.

Lachlan Macquarie (1814-1845) was the son of Lachlan and Elizabeth Campbell. He joined the Army in 1831 and served as a Lieutenant in the Scots Greys.

Murdoch Maclaine (1730-1804), the uncle of Lachlan and Charles Macquarie, was the 18th Laird of Lochbuie on the island of Mull. He was a Lieutenant in the 114th Royal Highland Volunteers and served in the Seven Years War in North America. From 1764 to 1775 he was a merchant in Edinburgh. In 1775 he was made a captain in the 84th Royal Highland Emigrant Regiment and he served in America from 1776 to 1784. He married Jane Campbell in 1786 and rebuilt Lochbuie House in 1790. In 1794 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Dumbarton Fencibles.

Murdoch Maclaine (1791-1844), son of the 18th Laird and a cousin of Lachlan and Charles Macquarie, was the 19th Laird of Lochbuie. He served in the 42nd Regiment (Royal Highlanders) and fought in the Peninsular War. He retired from the Army in 1812 and in 1813 married Christina MacLean.

John Maclaine (1793-1818), a son of the 18th Laird and cousin of Lachlan and Charles Macquarie, was commissioned (illegally) as an ensign in 1801. He accompanied Lachlan Macquarie on the voyage to New South Wales in 1809 and for a time was his ADC. He incurred considerable debts which were paid by the governor. In 1814 he left the colony with the 73rd Regiment for Ceylon, where he died.

Charles Macquarie (1771-1835), the brother of Lachlan Macquarie, was a Captain and paymaster in the 116th Regiment. In 1795 he was drafted into the 42nd Regiment for service in the Mediterranean. He was wounded at the Battle of Aboukir in 1801 and later served in the Peninsular Campaign. He became a major in 1804 and a Brevet-Lieutenant-Colonel in 1810. He retired from the Army in 1811 and married Marianne Willison in 1812. He had extensive estates on the islands of Mull and Ulva. Some of his purchases were ill-judged and on his death his heirs were faced with large debts.

Elizabeth (Betty) Macquarie, the sister of Lachlan Macquarie, married Farquhar Maclaine in 1771.

Hector Macquarie (1795-1836), a nephew of Lachlan Macquarie, was the illegitimate son of Charles Macquarie. He entered the Army in 1811, serving with the 76th Regiment in India. He transferred to the 48th Regiment, which arrived in New South Wales in 1817. For a time he was ADC to Governor Macquarie. He returned to England with his uncle in 1822.

Hugh Maclaine (1781-1828), a nephew of Lachlan Macquarie, was the son of Farquhar and Elizabeth Maclaine. He was commissioned as an ensign in the 77th Regiment in 1799 and was appointed a Captain in 1803. He became Lieutenant-Colonel of the regiment in 1822.

Charles Macquarie (1814-1869), a nephew of Lachlan Macquarie, was the son of Charles and Marianne Macquarie. In 1838 he and his wife Margaret emigrated to New South Wales. He farmed on the Paterson River, but with little success. He returned to Scotland in 1845 and unsuccessfully contested the will of his cousin Lachlan Macquarie, who had died without children and left his entire estate to a friend.

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:: Available for access.
Conditions Governing Use:: Many of the records digitised as part of the AJCP are still in copyright. Readers wishing to publish or reproduce documents should seek permission, in the first instance, from the owner of the original material.