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Son of James MacLaurin,
M.A., a schoolmaster, was born at Kilconquhar, Fife, Scotland, on 19
December 1835. When 15 he won a bursary at the university of St Andrews
and, after a brilliant course, took the degree of M.A. at 19 years of age.
Going on to the university of Edinburgh, he qualified M.D. in 1857. In the
following year he entered the royal navy as an assistant-surgeon, and
remained in the service for 13 years. He came to Australia in 1871 and
settled at Parramatta, but in the following year moved to
Macquarie-street, Sydney. He had neither friends nor influence, but
established a good practice, from which he did not retire until he was 70
years of age. He was appointed a fellow of the senate of the university of
Sydney in 1883, in 1885 was elected president of the board of health, and
in 1889 was nominated as a member of the legislative council of New South
Wales. In April 1893 he became vice-president of the executive council in
the Dibbs (q.v.) ministry, and in the financial crisis with which it was
almost immediately faced suggested to the premier that all bank notes
should be made legal tender. This suggestion was adopted and helped very
much to allay the panic. The ministry was defeated in August 1894, but
MacLaurin had established a reputation as a man of strong common sense and
great financial capacity. He subsequently became a director of such
important companies as the Bank of New South Wales, the Colonial Sugar
Refining Company, the Commercial Union Insurance Company, and the Mutual
Life and Citizens Company. He retained his position on the board of health
and was also chairman of the immigration board of New South Wales. During
the final years of the federation campaign, MacLaurin was a strong critic
of the bill, was president of a citizens' committee at Sydney which took
much exception to its financial provisions, and was one of the commission
of three appointed by the New South Wales government to report on the
financial clauses.
MacLaurin's greatest work
was in connexion with the university. He was vice-chancellor in 1887-9,
was elected again in 1895, and in 1896 became chancellor. Here he was in
his element. His knowledge of finance made him an invaluable member of the
finance committee, as a scholar he could meet the staff on equal terms and
understand the nature of their problems, as a man of the world he could be
the worthy representative of the university in any company. When he first
became chancellor there were fewer than 500 students, but the number was
almost quadrupled during his 18 years of office. He was knighted in 1902
and died at Sydney on 24 August 1914. He married in the beginning of 1872,
Eliza, daughter of Charles Nathan, F.R.C.S., who died in 1908. He was
survived by five sons.
MacLaurin was a man of fine
character and much kindliness and charm. As a physician he was one of the
early men to realize the importance of the psychological condition of the
patient. He was a thoroughly capable business man, and at the university
his tact and sympathy, wisdom and courage, made him a great administrator
and leader. Of his sons, the eldest, Charles MacLaurin (1872-1925),
educated at Sydney grammar school and the university of Edinburgh, became
a well-known Sydney surgeon. He published in 1923, Post Mortem: Essays
Historical and Medical, and in 1925 Mere Mortals: Medico-historical
Essays. These books were republished in 1930 in one volume under the
title De Mortuis: Essays Historical and Medical. They consist of
interesting speculations about famous people and the effects of their
health, or want of health, on their lives, and on history. Charles
MacLaurin died at Sydney on 19 April 1925. His younger brother, Colonel
Henry Normand MacLaurin (1878-1915), a most promising soldier, was killed
at Gallipoli on 27 April 1915. |
