Macquarie, Elizabeth and Lachlan

Elizabeth Macquarie (nee Campbell) and Governor Lachlan Macquarie

Lachlan Macquarie was Governor of the penal colony of NSW from 1810 to 1822.

During his time as governor, he and his wife Elizabeth made many tours of the colonies. These journeys are documented in his journals available online via the Macquarie University website.

Several of his exploratory tours were to the district known as 'Airds', where he chose the site for modern day Campbelltown. Macquarie was encouraged by the fertile land of the surrounding district and the promising start made by several early European industrious land grantees.

On 8 November, 1810 Governor Macquarie and his party inspected the Minto district. He visited such farms in the Campbelltown area as Throsby (Glenfield), Meehan (Macquarie Fields), Brooks (Denham Court), Dr Townson (Varroville) and Thompson (St Andrews).

Thompson and Townson’s farms were on the best soils and bounded by ‘a large creek of brackish water called "Bunbury Curran”. Macquarie inspected in detail the property of St Andrews noting the animals, buildings and soils.

Lachlan Macquarie founded the town of "Campbelltown" on Friday 1 December 1820 and named it after his wife's maiden name 'Campbell' a famous clan in Scotland. Many of the suburb and street names in the district reflect the Scottish ancestry of this couple. He formally marked the boundaries of the township, including the school, church and burial ground.

Want to know more?

From the online edition of The Australian Dictionary of Biography see Elizabeth Macquarie and Lachlan Macquarie.

Read the Lachlan and Elizabeth Macquarie Archives, on the Macquarie University website.

History of our suburbs explores further how and why they got their names.