Lachlan Macquarie

Major General Lachlan Macquarie CB
5th Governor of New South Wales
In office 1 January 1810 – 30 November 1821
Monarchs	George III George IV
Preceded by	William Bligh
Succeeded by	Thomas Brisbane
Personal details
Born	31 January 1762 (1762-01-31) Ulva, Inner Hebrides, Scotland
Died	1 July 1824(1824-07-01) (aged 62) London, England
Spouse(s)	Jane Jarvis (m. 1792–1796) Elizabeth Campbell (m. 1807)
Military service
Branch/service	British Army
Rank	Major General
Commands	73rd (Perthshire) Regiment of Foot
Battles/wars	American Revolutionary War Napoleonic Wars Australian Frontier Wars
Awards	Companion of the Order of the Bath

Major General Lachlan Macquarie, CB (/məˈkwɒrɪ/; Scottish Gaelic: Lachlann MacGuaire; 31 January 1762 – 1 July 1824)^[1] was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Scotland. Macquarie served as the fifth Governor of New South Wales from 1810 to 1821,^[2] and had a leading role in the social, economic, and architectural development of the colony. He is considered by historians to have had a crucial influence on the transition of New South Wales from a penal colony to a free settlement and therefore to have played a major role in the shaping of Australian society in the early nineteenth century.^[3][4]

Macquarie played a central role in urban planning in the colony. He had a significant impact on the development of modern Sydney, establishing the layout upon which the modern city centre is based, establishing Hyde Park as Australia's first public park, overseeing the construction of various public buildings along Macquarie Street, and devising the layouts of a number of settlements which today are part of Western Sydney. He also ordered the designing of a street layout for Hobart. A supporter of exploration, Macquarie authorised the 1813 expedition across the Blue Mountains, the first successful British traversal of the region. He ordered the establishment of Bathurst, the first inland British settlement in Australia.

While seeking to promote morality and orderliness, Macquarie favoured the liberal treatment of ex-convicts, known as emancipists, appointing them to prominent government positions and providing generous land grants.

Despite expressing a desire for Aboriginal peoples to be treated kindly, in 1816 he gave orders that led to the Appin Massacre of Gundungurra and Dharawal people during the Hawkesbury and Nepean Wars.^[5][6][7]