Hawkesbury Historical Society Day dinner 26th January 2002 Guest Speaker's Subject: Governor "The Father of Australia". Research by John Miller. Researching and extracting parts of Macquarie's life for this subject was a fascinating experience. The young Lachlan arrived from Mull with a basic education and broad Gaelic speaking accent sometime before 1776 to Edinburgh where his schoolmaster a Mr Miller, prepared him for a busy military life. He served in America, India and Egypt. His character was to be moulded by these experiences for his great challenge in N.S.W. We are fairly sophisticated today. We can be anywhere in the world by aircraft if we're game in 24 hours. We have been brought up looking at movies showing us the Wild West and the great frontiers of America. It is hard to imagine that for the first 26 years after settlement of the Colony, the and the Blue Mountains was the frontier and food basket of this country until Cox under the direction of Governor Macquarie built the road west in 1814. How fortunate we are here tonight, to be dining in the room, which was once graced by the presence of one of the true great liberalists, visionaries and town planners of our country's early foundation years. This was Governor Lachlan Macquarie, who was born on the island of Ulva, The Hebrides, Scotland on 31st January 1761. He arrived here in Cove on board the "Dromedary" at the end of December 1809, aged 48 years, as Lieutenant Colonel of the 73rd Highland Regiment, with his second wife Elizabeth Campbell. He took over officially as Governor on 1st January 1810. Thus, bringing to an end the "" of the NSW Corps and its coup against Governor Bligh. To every intent and purpose Macquarie's commission enabled him to act with unrivalled authority as autocrat over half a continent. Macquarie changed the colony from one of chaos and hopeless despair into visionary hope and achievement. He was open minded, candid, unprejudiced, favourable to constitutional change, legal and administrative reforms, tending in the direction of freedom and democracy. A great believer in private enterprise, Macquarie gave people, who showed a willingness to work hard, every opportunity to prove themselves in this new land. Whether a free man or emancipated convict. His commission also invited him to conciliate the affection of the aborigines and to prescribe that British subjects live in amity and kindness with them. His policy for the Aborigines reflected practical philanthropy. He established a Native Institution for twelve Aboriginal children, six boys and six girls, under the supervision of William Shelley at in 1814. By 1820, 37 aboriginal children were received, 6 absconded, 2 died, 1 taken by father, 28 completed their studies. Maria Lock, Yarramundi's daughter being a student. In 1823 it was moved to the "Black's Town" (Rooty Hill). Blacktown got its name when the railway to the west crossed the road to the Blacks Town. He always valued one aspect of his administration above the rest and deemed it to be his most meritorious accomplishment. In his third dispatch to Castlereagh, written on 30th of April 1810, he spelt out an issue on which he claimed to differ markedly from his predecessors: 'I have, nevertheless, taken upon myself to adopt a new line of conduct, conceiving that emancipation, when united with rectitude and long tried good conduct, should lead a man back to that rank in society which he had forfeited, and do away, in as far as the case will admit, all retrospect of former bad conduct.' This principle was to be the foundation of what he would call his emancipist policy: that a convict, on the expiry or remission of his sentence, provided he were well-behaved, ought to be treated as if he had never transgressed the law and should possess the same rights as a free man. Andrew Thompson, an emancipated convict, was a successful example of this policy. He saved the lives of many people in the Hawkesbury floods. Macquarie sought his advice on planning for high flood free land in Windsor and made him a Magistrate. Unfortunately, Andrew developed a chest complaint after being in flood waters 3 days and nights saving lives in 1809. Andrew died in October 1810 aged 37 years. Macquarie named the square out front of the Macquarie Arms, previously known as Bell Post Square, Thompson Square in his honour. This building is a great example of private enterprise that Macquarie encouraged by giving an emancipated convict Richard Fitzgerald a parcel of land on the 12th January 1811, to build a commodious inn of two storeys. It was completed and opened by Macquarie on 26th July, 1815, and is now 186 years old. The oldest existing hotel in Australia still being used for its original purpose. A celebration was held in this room after the laying of the foundation stone of St Mathews Anglican Church on 11th October 1817, when the rim of a Spanish dollar was laid , under the stone. While the Governor and his party were here drinking a "bumper" as a toast, someone stole the dollar, a second one laid was also stolen. On 1st December 1810 Macquarie and his family with W.M. Cox and George Evans crossed the Hawkesbury near Agnes Banks on a tour of Richmond Hill, to visit the Bells of Belmont and the Kurry Jung brush, the Kurry Jung Hill and Richmond Terrace left bank to the Green Hills, on horseback with his wife Elizabeth. Apparently Kurry Jung Hill was named Mt Maurice by A. Thompson in honour of Lt O'Connell. On the 6th December, 1810, Gov. Macquarie named the 5 Macquarie towns at Government house Windsor, (Richmond, Castlereagh, Pitt Town, Wilberforce, Windsor). Between the 2nd and 6th December 1810, Macquarie extensively traveled the Hawkesbury by boat and carriage as far as Portland Head (Ebenezer), dining with Dr Thomas Arndell at the new Presbyterian Church and school. As well as a visit to Caddye (Cattai) and Blighton Farm, then returning to Sydney. Australia Day as we know, commemorates the beginning of European settlement when Governor Phillip landed at Sydney Cove on 26th January 1788. The day was first proclaimed a public holiday in 1838, the fiftieth anniversary of the founding, but some form of celebration had been held in Sydney as early as 1818. In this year of 1818 Governor Lachlan Macquarie became the first to celebrate 30 years of settlement on 26th January, when he ordered a 30 gun salute, for what was then called "Anniversary Day". His wife Elizabeth held a dinner and ball for the occasion. They had been reluctant to celebrate the date before, as it was also the date of the coup against Governor Bligh in 1808. Different names, including Anniversary Day and Foundation Day, were formerly used in different states, but eventually the other States followed the lead given by Victoria in 1931 and adopted the name Australia Day, a title long advocated by the Australian Natives' Association. In 1946 the Australia Day Council was formed in Melbourne to foster national appreciation of the day's significance. What will happen to our National Day and celebration date in the future will be a subject for much debate over the next few years. The origin and use of the name "Australia", which many people take for granted. In 1606, Pedro Fernandez de Quiros discovered the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu) and believing that the island on which he landed was part of the great southern continent, named it "Austrialia del Espiritu Santo", in honour of Phillip III of Spain, who was a prince of the House of Austria. The name meaning "South Land of the Holy Spirit". Around about 1612, the noted Dutch cartographer Hessel Gerritsz published a book containing a Dutch translation of de Quiros' memorial which rendered "Austrialia" as "Australia Incognita. This was probably the earliest printed use of the word Australia, outside Spain. In 1617 French and English translation called it "Terra Australis". "New Holland" was the name given the island continent by the Dutch in the seventeenth century. They never claimed any part of their discovery. Then in 1770, Cook claimed all the land to the east of 1350 east longitude, approximately half of the continent, and called that half "." Here, then, was a huge geographical entity, one half of which lay still unclaimed, bearing two names. In his circumnavigation of this country 1801-3, Matthew Flinders, having found no strait dividing the continent, felt compelled as a matter of cartographic necessity to give a single name to the continuous whole. His choice of the term "Australia' seems to have been dictated by a wish to avoid confusion with the ancient, mythical "Terra Australis Incognita", as well as being a matter of taste. In his Voyage to Terra Australis, or Australia, published in 1814, Matthew Flinders wrote in a footnote, "Had I permitted myself any innovation upon the original term Terra Australis, it would have been to convert it into Australia". He didn't have enough influence to have the name changed in England. In 1817, Governor Lachlan Macquarie received a copy of the charts by Matthew Flinders, who had circumnavigated the continent between 1801-03 in the "Investigator". Publication of his charts was held up due to his imprisonment on the Isle of France (Mauritius Island) by the French for 7 years, on his way back to England. Flinders died in England, the day after his work was published and delivered to his house, on l9th July, 1814. He was only 40 years of age. On receipt of these charts, in April 1817, Governor Macquarie appears to have used the word "Australia" officially in his correspondence to under secretary Goulburn, 21st December 1817, thereby giving vice-regal approval to a word that was beginning to enter common usage in the colony. By that time the first native-born members of the white population had reached maturity and were taking part in colonial affairs. It can be well understood that their preference, when referring to themselves, would be for the simple word "Australian" rather than the clumsy "New South Welshman" or "native-born colonial". It is also noteworthy that the charts of Phillip Parker King (qv), a native-born Australian, published by the Admiralty in 1824 were entitled as parts of the coast of Australia. Likewise another native born Australian, W.C. Wentworth (qv) in his Statistical Account (3rd edition, 1824) advocated the use of the name "Australia" naming his newspaper published in 1824, The Australian". There are many passages in books of that period that indicate that the word "Australia" had been accepted by the colonists. On the whole, the naming of Australia can be said to have been brought about through local usage by Australians themselves, the word being introduced probably by the early naval officers. Official Use It wasn't until 1829 that the British Government officially used the name Australia. The Colony of Western Australia Founded on the 2nd May 1829 by a British naval officer, Captain Charles Fremantle, formally took possession for Great Britain of the whole of Australia that had not up to that time been included within the boundaries of New South Wales, This amounted to one third of the Australian continent. A month later Captain James Stirling, RN, arrived with the ships "Parmelia" and "Sulphur", having on board a party of officials, a detachment of soldiers and several hundred settlers, to commence the new British colony of Western Australia. While Captain Stirling was on the way to the colony, an Act of the British parliament authorized him as lieutenant-governor, with the advice of his officials, to make laws in 'His Majesty's Settlements in Western Australia, on the western coast of New Holland', and this was the first official sanction by parliament of the use of the name 'Australia'. On the 5th August 1850 an Act for the better Government of Her Majesty's Australian Colonies was presented to the colonies of NSW, Victoria, Van Diemans Land, South Australia and Western Australia. All of the States eventually joined together forming the Commonwealth of Australia on the 1st January 1901, thus eliminating customs duty on trade of goods between the states. Uniting us as one nation. However, it was Governor Lachlan Macquarie who first gave official vice-regal approval to the name Australia on 21st December 1817, in his correspondence to under Secretary Goulburn in England. He wanted to encourage everyone to be proud of their new country. (Extract from Historical Records of Australia, Ser. 1 Vol. lx p 747). Governor Macquarie to under Secretary Goulburn. (dispatch per ship Harriet) Government House, Sydney, N.S. Wales. 21st December 1817, Sunday evening.

My dear Sir, The Ship "Harriet" (which conveys Home my Public Dispatches) not having sailed this day, as was intended, gives me an opportunity of informing you that His Majesty's Cutter "Mermaid", commanded by Lieutenant P. P. King of the Royal Navy, sailed from hence early this morning on her destined Voyage of Discovery, and for the purpose of Surveying the Western Coast of Australia intending to proceed along the said coast to the northward and eastward, as far as the northwest monsoon can carry him, and then return to Port Jackson by the western coast on the setting in of the south east monsoon. The "Mermaid Cutter" has been fitted out here in the completest (sic) manner possible. She is almost a new vessel, well found in stores of every description, provisioned and watered for eight months, and is very well manned in respect to officers and crew for the service she is intended for. Lieutenant King expects to be absent from Port Jackson between eight and nine months, and I trust in that time will be able to make very important additions to the geographical knowledge already acquired of the coasts of the continent of Australia, which I hope will be the name given to this country in future, instead of the very erroneous and misapplied name, hitherto given it, of "New Holland", which properly speaking only applies to a part of this immense continent. Mr Cunningham, the King's Botanist lately sent out to this country, has proceeded in the Mermaid with Lieut. King. Mr Lewin, the painter of natural history, declined going on this expedition on account of his having a family to provide for.

I have, & c., L. Macquarie. Two disadvantaged groups who benefited from the governor's patronage were the so called Dissenters and Catholics. Though he had set a personal example, and had compelled many of the convicts to attend Anglican services, by 1820 only a minority of the citizenry voluntarily went to church and religious observance tottered. In December of that year Macquarie provided land upon which the missionary, Walter Lawry, planned to erect the first Wesleyan chapel at Parramatta. The building's dimensions of 24 feet in width and 41 feet in length were Lilliputian, but its diminutive beginnings did not lessen the warmth with which the governor entertained the Wesleyans or the sincerity of his toast to the success of their labours. Advising them to spread the gospel, particularly among the Aborigines, he assured them of his firm support for their pious purpose. While Lawry's fellow evangelist, Benjamin Carvosso, despised the Catholics, the governor had a greater measure of tolerance. On the 3rd May 1820, Fathers John Therry and Philip Conolly arrived in Sydney to celebrate mass officially for the first time since 1804, following the Irish Rebellion and Battle of Vinegar Hill. Macquarie showed them favour and good will. He gave land for their chapel in Sydney, donated 20 guineas to the building and laid its foundation stone. On the 29th October 1821 the faithful sang hymns as a procession wound its mystical way south east of the convict barracks to the trenches of St Mary's. The ten year old acolyte, Columbus Fitzpatrick, passed a silver bladed and ivory handled trowel to Father Therry who presented it to the governor. Macquarie told the priest not to fuss, though he had never before set the first stone of a Catholic chapel, he jokingly confided in the cleric that he was an old mason. Vowing to keep the trowel in remembrance of the day, he promised to support the religious liberty of Therry's flock. The assembled crowd cheered mightily. St Marys burnt down in 1865. Rebuilding commenced the same year. Father Therry held mass in Windsor in the newly completed Convict Barracks in 1820 until it was converted into a hospital in 1823. Services were then held in the house of Patrick Garrigan. The St Matthews Catholic church built in 1840 in Windsor is the oldest existing Catholic church on the Australian Main land. The Catholic St Matthews Primary School in Windsor is the oldest in the whole of Australia. £500 and £200 being donated by James Doyle of the Lord Nelson Inn (site of the Doctor's House, Windsor). St Patrick's Day St Patrick's Day was unique among national occasions. The great majority of Irish exiles and emigrants who were Catholics took saints more seriously than their Protestant fellow colonists did, and they found more cause to stick together. In the towns of Australia, as in such other places as Boston and New York and Philadelphia, St Patrick's Day became a time for the Irish to affirm their communal solidarity and to talk of their achievements, hopes and grievances. Governor Macquarie gave benign recognition to the anniversary in 1810 when he provided entertainment on 17th March for convicts employed by the government. It became the custom for a committee of the most reputable Irishmen both Catholic and Protestant to arrange a dinner for 17th March in a Sydney hotel. The governor attended or was represented, the first toast was to the king, and hopes were expressed for the continued entwining of the shamrock with the rose and the thistle. After 1830 Roger Therry, an Irish Catholic who was appointed Commissioner of the Court of Requests (small debts) in New South Wales in 1829, the year of Catholic emancipation, spoke regularly at these dinners. At the Royal Hotel in George Street on 17th March 1832, Therry proposed: 'The sons of England, Scotia and Erin, and may their affections and energies be ever united in support of the power and the glory of the British empire.' Sir landed in Sydney on 7th November 1821 and prepared to take over from Macquarie as Governor on the 1st of December. Macquarie had hoped to have 3 months in which to familiarize Brisbane with his administration and policies before handing over the government to him, but Sir Thomas Brisbane would have none of that. The 30th November 1821 was Macquarie's final day in power and he wrote his final dispatches. Seventy three days were to pass before he left New South Wales. In that time he toured the colony, receiving tributes and making his farewells. On the 28th December he went to the annual gathering of the aboriginal chiefs and clans at Parramatta where Macquarie said goodbye to the original Aboriginal inhabitants whose predicament was reminiscent of what he had seen in the highlands of Scotland, Cape Town South Africa and Surat in India. As the Aborigines feasted on roast beef washed down with copious draughts of beer, he examined the children of the Native Institution. He knew that the rapid increase in British population and the progress of British agriculture and industry had driven these people from their ancient habitations; he also knew how contact with Europeans in the townships had degraded the Blacks, he planned to establish a refuge for them on 10,000 acres at Moss Vale where their existence would be relatively undisturbed, but the Colonial Office ignored his proposal. The New Year saw him dining with his very dear friends the Fitzgeralds' at Windsor. On the 4th January 1822 he rose at dawn and rode past crops of maize on the river flats. At 10am a deputation from the Hawkesbury region waited on him. Its chairman, , praised the many advantages of his wise and mild administration and, as a token of undissembled (sic) regard, asked him to sit for a half length portrait in England which Cox proposed to hang in the local courthouse. The inhabitants of the Hawkesbury District thought so much of Macquarie that they prepared a written address prior to the Governors departure for England in 1822. To His Excellency Major General Macquarie, etc., etc., Sir, Twelve years having nearly elapsed since you took charge of the Government of this Colony, at the close of this period calling to our grateful recollection the many advantages we have enjoyed under your wise and mild administration, we feel ourselves bound by the ties of gratitude to offer you this address as a grateful memorial and tribute to our undissembled regard. When we take a retrospective view of the Colony on your arrival, and compare it with its present improved state, we cannot but admire your wisdom and indefatigable perseverance, not only in the convenience and comfort derived from the construction of Roads, public Buildings, the erection of Schools, (Macquarie had schools erected in the Hawkesbury in 1820. St Johns Wilberforce is the only one remaining) the patronage afforded to benevolent and charitable institutions, but for the great zeal manifested in correcting vice and encouraging virtue, your own conduct having exhibited a pattern worthy of imitation. With every sentiment of regard, we now take our farewell of your Excellency, trusting that your Excellency's Conduct will receive the approbation of our most Gracious Sovereign, and conscious that in retirement you will experience the happiness resulting from a life spent in honorable pursuits. N.B. It was resolved at the meeting of the Inhabitants of the Districts of the Hawkesbury, which took place on this occasion to request of Governor Macquarie to sit for a half length Portrait in England to be put up in the New Court House at Windsor to defray the expense of which Seventy Guineas were immediately subscribed. "Windsor, 12th December, 1821. True copy L. Macquarie Presented to the Governor, 4th Jan 1822. Macquarie wrote back to the Hawkesbury inhabitants agreeing to sit for a half length portrait when he arrived back in England. You see here tonight a copy of the original oil painting, that currently hangs in Windsor Court House, reproduced by permission of the Attorney General. The painting is attributed to Scottish artist, Colvin Smith, a follower of Sir Henry Raeburn R.A. Macquarie and his family boarded the "Surrey" on the 12th February 1822, however due to adverse weather conditions it was the 15th before the ship weighed anchor at Watsons Bay. It cleared Port Jackson's heads to take Macquarie back to England after 12 years in the colony, a man who's chief aim and happiness had been the colonists' good. Before him lay the prospect of countering his critics in London following the 'Bigge Report' on his administration of the colony in New South Wales. He was to have many disappointments, and his health eventually deteriorated. Major General Lachlan Macquarie died in London on 1st July 1824. Two years after leaving his beloved Australia, aged 63 years. His body was transported and buried on the Isle of Mull on the 29th July, 1824, with his infant daughter Jane (died 5th of December 1808). Eight years later his wife Elizabeth had a lengthy eulogy inscribed in red granite on his grave which was moved later to his mausoleum when it was built. It was appropriate that the first monument on which the word Australia appears is on Macquarie's own mausoleum on the Isle of Mull. The long eulogy ending with the words "the rapid improvement of the colony during his auspices and the high estimation in which both his character and government were held, rendered him truly deserving of the appellation by which he has been distinguished, "The Father of Australia". Prior to her death on 11th March 1835, Elizabeth corresponded with Richard Fitzgerald, the original owner of this hotel, appointing him to have power of attorney over their estates with 950 head of cattle here in Australia at the time (possibly depastured on a property called "Windmill Hill" which, it has been suggested, was Macquarie's 2000 acre grant adjoining Fitzgerald's "Dabee", Rylstone). She commented that she was about to commence the journey that no-one has yet returned. Richard Fitzgerald, or "our dear Fitz" as Elizabeth Macquarie called him, was a very valued and trusted friend of the family, he regularly sent her money from her estates, and she asked him to spend fifty pounds out of the funds of their estates to procure for himself a likeness of Macquarie. I don't know if it is In existence anywhere in Australia, I'm still searching! However, we have complied with Elizabeth's wishes here and erected his likeness in this room. The "Governor Macquarie Dining Room" in the Macquarie Arms Hotel, Thompson Square, Windsor, N.S.W. Will you now join me in three cheers to Governor Lachlan Macquarie and his great contribution, of laying the sound foundations, to advance Australia toward being the great nation it is today. "To the Father of Australia". The End. Following the address by John Miller the President of Hawkesbury Historical Society and Mayor of Hawkesbury City, Cr. Dr Rex Stubbs officially opened the "Governor Macquarie Dining Room" and unveiled Macquarie's Portrait/likeness. Attributed to Colvin Smith a Scottish artist and follower of Sir Henry Raeburn, R.A. l822. Notes There have been many arguments over the years on the subject of who painted the portrait and was it really Macquarie. The painter was originally thought to be R. Read Snr, however a letter from the Attorney Generals department had it identified at the National Portrait Gallery London. The inscription suggested by the Keeper of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery "Attributed to Scottish artist, Colvin Smith, follower of Sir Henry Raeburn, R.A. In 1970 the Mitchell Library purchased at auction in Sydney a holograph letter from Macquarie to Richard Fitzgerald dated London, October 10, 1823. Dear Fitzgerald, I have had the pleasure of receiving your several letters and return you many thanks for the communications contained in them I have had my portrait painted lately, and after being handsomely framed and carefully packed up first in tin, and afterwards in a strong wooden case, it has been shipped off a few days ago for New South Wales, addressed to Mr Cox and you do not know the name of the ship but that I will inform you of in my next letter. I hope it will come safe to hand, as it is an excellent likeness. Be so good as to write me when it arrives. We set off for Scotland tomorrow. Mrs M and Lachlan are both in pretty good health and desire to unite with me in kindest regards to yourself and family and all our friends in your part of the country. I remain, Dear Fitzgerald, Your sincere friend, L. Macquarie. With regard to the uniform being that of a Lieutenantn Governor as claimed by the biographer, in 1971 the owner of a copy of the courthouse portrait sent a photograph to the Imperial War Museum in London, asking for information as to the rank of the wearer. As the Imperial War Museum deals only with the period from 1914, it was forwarded to the National Army Museum, and the Research Assistant to the Director replied that the uniform was that of a Major-General and in view of the provenance of the portrait it was presumably, that of Lachlan Macquarie. Recently I wrote to the National Army Museum for confirmation, also asking of the style of the uniform would be correct for 1823. The reply stated that it was correct from 1811-1828, and confirming that Macquarie was a Major-General in 1823, Enclosed was a Photostat copy of the entry for him in "Historical Record of the 73nd Foot published in 1851. References acknowledged. D.G. Bowd - "Macquarie Country" M. H. Ellis - "Lachlan Macquarie His life, adventures and times" James Kohen -'The and their neighbours" John Ritchie - "Lachlan Macquarie - A Biography" Library of Australian History - "Lachlan Macquarie - Journals of His Tours NSW" Historical Records of Australia - Series 1, Volume IX page 747 Mitchell Library - Fftzgerald Papers - correspondence with the Macquaries 1827-1835. M. Whymark - "The case for the Court House Portrait" Hawkesbury City Library - Fitzgerald documents Oral background material obtained when personally visiting the Chris and Helen Cox family property at Mudgee, "Burrundulia" on the Cudgegong River. Note: The Fitzgerald and eventually Evans property "Dabee'; and "Windmill Hill" Lachlan Macquarie Farm which has been suggested as the grant made to the Macquarie family nearly 13 years after the Governors death and eighteen months after Elizabeth Macquarie died. A Land Titles Office search has shown the accuracy of this grant. Confirmed by Governor R. Burke on the 11th of February 1837, joins Fitzgerald's farm "Dabee" on the Narrango - Dunn's Swamp Road, opposite the front gate of "Dabee" Rylstone NSW. Mr Richard Evans the last owner of "Dabee", a descendant of Fitzgerald, says it was Pt 1 Parish of Rylstone. He has the original grant document framed at home in Sydney which I have personally viewed and am obtaining a copy with permission of Mr and Mrs Evans and the new owners of "Dabee" Mr and Mrs Rothwell. Signed John Miller 26/1/2002 http://www.hawkesburyhistory.org.au/members/macq_miller.html