Colonial Secretary's Index 1809-1825

Lachlan Macquarie

Macquarie's governorship was noteworthy for the fact that the office of Secretary to the Governor was occupied almost exclusively by one man: John Thomas Campbell. Macquarie recruited Campbell to become his Colonial Secretary in Cape Town in 1809 (during his voyage to New South Wales). In his 11 years of office, Campbell proved to be a methodical record keeper and he greatly improved the creation and management of the public records of the colony - and the greater part of the surviving records date from the period 1810-1822.

Macquarie was a most prolific writer. During his period as Governor most public correspondence, proclamations, government and general orders, memorials, instructions, etc were either addressed to him or issued in his name, and frequently drafted or annotated in his hand. Hence it was not thought practical to make entries under his name for this vast wealth of material, as anyone interested in all aspects of his administration would need to study it in total.

Therefore, selective entries only appear here from the papers of the office of the Colonial Secretary, encompassing all personal matters, material relating to the power or authority of his office or administrative arrangements, the most important instructions to public officials or explorers (particularly if drafted in his hand), a number of proclamations and government and general orders (again particularly if drafted in his hand), his correspondence with the civil and military authorities in England, and a selection of other matters that throw some light on the main issues of the day, his style of government and character.

Records of Other Macquarie Family Members

Elizabeth Macquarie
Lachlan Macquarie Jnr.
Hector Macquarie

1809

1810

1811

1812

1813

1814

1815

1816

1817

1818

1819

1820

1821

1822