The end of Governor Macquarie
Insofar as Australia was concerned, Macquarie was a good man. Yes, we know he could, these days, be tried for human rights crimes consequent upon the Upton Massacre, all the more so because he, one of the very, very few in the colony, recognised that the Indigenous Australians were human and deserved rights and respect. Mind you, his recognition of their humanity does seem to have been paternalistic, and limited to a "lower" (although, we don't believe he actually used this terminology) form limited to being capable only of very basic work.
We will make no attempt to excuse Macquarie, nor to try and explain his acts in any way that might be seen as excusing him. We can well understand why Indigenous Australians would not regard him as a good man, and, frankly, the Upton Massacre and his theft of Indigenous children to fill his ghastly Native Institution bring him pretty close to damnation from us as well.
However, as historians we feel we have to consider Macquarie in context, having regard to the times and the totality of his acts when here in Australia. And it is with regard to his attitudes to convicts, ticket-of-leave people, and emancipists especially, his understanding of where the colony was going whether or not the British wanted it to, and his consequent attempts to provide the infrastructure necessary for the colony that was coming, that we have judged him a good man.
And it is in this context that we say, quite without apology, Lachlan Macquarie did not deserve what Bigge and Bathurst did to him, nor did those close to him, who were, mostly, emancipists.
Lachlan had been gradually falling out with his lord and master, Bathurst, Secretary of War and Colonies. Macquarie, on the other side of the world from Bathurst's London, had no understanding of the fear building in the minds of conservative nobs across the last five or so years of the decade. And it was not the kind of thing Bathurst could communicate.
First up, Britain's economic situation was dire. Initially, it needed cash to fund its wars. Then, when Napoleon was safely ensconced on his second island prison, the economy completely, or almost completely, collapsed. Britain couldn't afford to spend large amounts on what was regarded as nothing more than a prison farm in New South Wales.
But Macquarie, apart from making sure New South Wales, at least, would never forget him by naming multiple places and streets after himself, recognised the inevitability of the prison farm becoming a major colony as the number of free and freed people grew exponentially, rapidly outnumbering the number of convicts being sent. Just as Lachlan couldn't see what was happening in London, Bathurst could not see, or didn't want to see, the need for the supposed prison colony to have a properly planned and built infrastructure, which required considerable funding.
Then there was Macquarie's habit of, in the British government's view, of exacerbating the problem by his program of exploration, and the inevitable consequent spread of settlement as more and more great agricultural land was discovered. This encouraged the increase of free settlement as people came to take advantage of the clear opportunities. But that's not what the British wanted. They didn't want free people adding to the population, they just got in the way of the place's primary purpose as a prison farm.
And, as if to prove he was no more than a thieving Highlander himself, Macquarie searched through the convict hordes for people of value to him and gave them tickets-of-leave, effectively making them free men. He further, in the opinion of the highly conservative British class and status riddled society, made things almost infinitely worse bygiving them jobs that shouldn't be given to people stained by crime. Or at least, stained by being caught. This was seen as interfering with the ability of the system to generate fear, not so much in the hearts and minds of the convicts, but in the hearts and minds of people who may be considering committing crime. And, of course, Bathurst had streams of letters telling him this from New South Wales's nobs, the exclusives.
In the same light, the exclusives, and eventually Bathurst, were furious at Macquarie's policy of treating former convicts as though they had never been convicts, even appointing them as magistrates, accepting struck off lawyers in court, putting them in charge of money-generating concerns like toll roads, and even putting a man who was a former highwayman, albeit never found guilty in a court, in charge of the police. This removed the exclusives from their monopoly over the justice system.
Then, contrary to his instructions from Bathurst, Macquarie established a bank, and put emancipists in charge of it. This, in addition to his introduction of the holey dollar and the dump (Spanish dollars with a hole cut in the middle, and the piece cut out of the middle) as legitimate currency, and flooding the market with rum, not only cut out some very profitable sources of income for the exclusives, but with a bank undercutting them in the money lending market, blew them right out of the dodgy financial system as well.
Another very common accusation against Macquarie was that he ruled like an autocrat, where he was the beginning and end of all decisions in New South Wales. There was some truth in this, but what really peeved the exclusives was that he very specifically didn't include them anywhere within the decision-making process, but most of his advisory contacts were either emancipists and men who should have been convicts (they should talk!). Macquarie didn't help himself in this regard by, probably illegally, having three exclusives whipped for trespassing.
Poor Macquarie, ailing, tiring, and energy failing. When was told one of the key questions Little Bigge asked every interviewee was whether or not they had any particular gripes about Macquarie, the man himself would have known he was in deep, deep, very deep doo doo.
We will make no attempt to excuse Macquarie, nor to try and explain his acts in any way that might be seen as excusing him. We can well understand why Indigenous Australians would not regard him as a good man, and, frankly, the Upton Massacre and his theft of Indigenous children to fill his ghastly Native Institution bring him pretty close to damnation from us as well.
However, as historians we feel we have to consider Macquarie in context, having regard to the times and the totality of his acts when here in Australia. And it is with regard to his attitudes to convicts, ticket-of-leave people, and emancipists especially, his understanding of where the colony was going whether or not the British wanted it to, and his consequent attempts to provide the infrastructure necessary for the colony that was coming, that we have judged him a good man.
And it is in this context that we say, quite without apology, Lachlan Macquarie did not deserve what Bigge and Bathurst did to him, nor did those close to him, who were, mostly, emancipists.
Lachlan had been gradually falling out with his lord and master, Bathurst, Secretary of War and Colonies. Macquarie, on the other side of the world from Bathurst's London, had no understanding of the fear building in the minds of conservative nobs across the last five or so years of the decade. And it was not the kind of thing Bathurst could communicate.
First up, Britain's economic situation was dire. Initially, it needed cash to fund its wars. Then, when Napoleon was safely ensconced on his second island prison, the economy completely, or almost completely, collapsed. Britain couldn't afford to spend large amounts on what was regarded as nothing more than a prison farm in New South Wales.
But Macquarie, apart from making sure New South Wales, at least, would never forget him by naming multiple places and streets after himself, recognised the inevitability of the prison farm becoming a major colony as the number of free and freed people grew exponentially, rapidly outnumbering the number of convicts being sent. Just as Lachlan couldn't see what was happening in London, Bathurst could not see, or didn't want to see, the need for the supposed prison colony to have a properly planned and built infrastructure, which required considerable funding.
Then there was Macquarie's habit of, in the British government's view, of exacerbating the problem by his program of exploration, and the inevitable consequent spread of settlement as more and more great agricultural land was discovered. This encouraged the increase of free settlement as people came to take advantage of the clear opportunities. But that's not what the British wanted. They didn't want free people adding to the population, they just got in the way of the place's primary purpose as a prison farm.
And, as if to prove he was no more than a thieving Highlander himself, Macquarie searched through the convict hordes for people of value to him and gave them tickets-of-leave, effectively making them free men. He further, in the opinion of the highly conservative British class and status riddled society, made things almost infinitely worse bygiving them jobs that shouldn't be given to people stained by crime. Or at least, stained by being caught. This was seen as interfering with the ability of the system to generate fear, not so much in the hearts and minds of the convicts, but in the hearts and minds of people who may be considering committing crime. And, of course, Bathurst had streams of letters telling him this from New South Wales's nobs, the exclusives.
In the same light, the exclusives, and eventually Bathurst, were furious at Macquarie's policy of treating former convicts as though they had never been convicts, even appointing them as magistrates, accepting struck off lawyers in court, putting them in charge of money-generating concerns like toll roads, and even putting a man who was a former highwayman, albeit never found guilty in a court, in charge of the police. This removed the exclusives from their monopoly over the justice system.
Then, contrary to his instructions from Bathurst, Macquarie established a bank, and put emancipists in charge of it. This, in addition to his introduction of the holey dollar and the dump (Spanish dollars with a hole cut in the middle, and the piece cut out of the middle) as legitimate currency, and flooding the market with rum, not only cut out some very profitable sources of income for the exclusives, but with a bank undercutting them in the money lending market, blew them right out of the dodgy financial system as well.
Another very common accusation against Macquarie was that he ruled like an autocrat, where he was the beginning and end of all decisions in New South Wales. There was some truth in this, but what really peeved the exclusives was that he very specifically didn't include them anywhere within the decision-making process, but most of his advisory contacts were either emancipists and men who should have been convicts (they should talk!). Macquarie didn't help himself in this regard by, probably illegally, having three exclusives whipped for trespassing.
Poor Macquarie, ailing, tiring, and energy failing. When was told one of the key questions Little Bigge asked every interviewee was whether or not they had any particular gripes about Macquarie, the man himself would have known he was in deep, deep, very deep doo doo.