Lachlan Macquarie Becomes Governor

Date: January 1, 1810 • Location: London, United Kingdom

Lachlan Macquarie (pictured) became Governor of New South Wales, eventually playing a major role in the social, economic and architectural development of the colony in Australia.

Major-General Lachlan Macquarie was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Scotland. Macquarie served as the fifth Governor of New South Wales from 1810 to 1821, 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.