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Was born in the county of
Ross, Scotland, on 24 June 1767. He was the eldest son of William Macleay,
provost of the town of Wick. Nothing is known of his early years but he
received a good education, and on 17 March 1795 was elected a fellow of
the Linnean Society, London. In the same year he was appointed chief clerk
in the prisoners of war office, in 1797 head of the department of
correspondence of the transport board, and in 1806 secretary of the board.
He remained in this position until 1818 when he retired on a pension of
£750 a year. He had taken a special interest in the Linnean Society having
become secretary in 1798, and continued to hold this position until in
1825 he was appointed colonial secretary of New South Wales, at a salary
of £2000 a year. He arrived in Sydney in January 1826 and was immediately
appointed a member of the executive council. He was an extremely valuable
and hard-working official whose services were much valued by Governor
Darling (q.v.). He did not succeed in working so well with Governor Bourke
(q.v.), and several protests were made by residents of Sydney against his
pension of £750 a year being a charge on the colony in addition to his
salary. Macleay having mentioned that he had some thought of retiring,
Bourke, in August 1835, suggested to the Earl of Aberdeen that this was
desirable and that an admirable successor was available in Deas Thomson
(q.v.), who was accordingly given the position in spite of Macleay's
protestation that he had had no intention of retiring. Deas Thomson took
over the office on 2 January 1837. Macleay published the correspondence
with Bourke and other papers relating to his retirement as a pamphlet in
1838. Though he was nearly 70 years of age he felt his enforced retirement
keenly. He had, however, in addition to his salary received grants of
valuable land, one of which, some 56 acres of land in Elizabeth Bay,
established the fortunes of his family. On his retirement his pension was
raised to £1000 a year. He was elected a member of the legislative council
in 1843, and though now 76 years of age was elected speaker and admirably
carried out his duties until 19 May 1846, when he resigned the office.
Macleay was so busy after
he arrived in Sydney that it must have been extremely difficult to keep up
his interest in science. Before he came to Australia he had accumulated a
remarkable collection of entomological specimens, largely British and
European. In Australia he extended his interest to ornithology, and
presented a large number of skins of Australian birds to the Linnean
Society of London. He took much interest in the Australian museum during
its early years, and is sometimes spoken of as its founder (Sydney
Morning Herald, 26 July 1848), although it is now impossible to
establish this. His garden at Elizabeth Bay became famous for its valuable
and rare specimens of plants. He frequently welcomed visiting scientists
at his house, and his success as a gardener on a comparatively sterile
soil is said to have given marked stimulus to ornamental gardening in
Sydney. The family records relating to the garden show that it was a great
interest to Macleay in his declining years. He died following. a carriage
accident on 19 July 1848. He married in London Eliza Barclay by whom he
had 17 children. His wife died in 1847. of his surviving children two
[George Macleay and William Sharp Macleay] are noticed separately. He was
elected a fellow of the Royal Society, London, in 1809. His collections,
much enlarged by his son and nephew, eventually became the property of the
university of Sydney.
Macleay was much liked and
respected throughout his active and busy life. He was an excellent
official, a first-rate entomologist and a good botanist. Though he
published nothing himself he had an important influence on the early study
of biology in Australia. |
