Loving Legacies

On January 1, 1810, Lachlan Macquarie was sworn in as Governor of New South Wales, replacing the deposed William Bligh. Macquarie had arrived in Port Jackson aboard the Dromedary several days earlier, accompanied by his wife Elizabeth. Her love and unswerving loyalty would sustain the Governor throughout his long and increasingly difficult term of office.

While Governor Macquarie left a detailed record of his years in New South Wales in diaries and letters and in official government dispatches, Elizabeth’s written legacy consists only of an engaging account of her journey on the Dromedary plus a handful of letters. She was a lively correspondent, with a dry sense of humour. It is a great shame that not one of the hundreds of letters she would have written to her closest women friends appears to have survived. These women—Henrietta Meredith, Juliana Curzon and Elizabeth Meyrick—had known Elizabeth before her marriage and continued to play an important role in her life after the Macquaries left New South Wales in 1822.

The following article confirms that Henrietta Meredith died shortly after the death of Lachlan Macquarie, earlier than previously thought. It was Miss Meredith’s bequest to Elizabeth that enabled the grieving widow to refuse a government pension until Macquarie’s rebuttal of the damaging Bigge report was published. It also reveals for the first time that Elizabeth received an even larger inheritance from Juliana Curzon some years later.

On April 20, 1805, Miss Henrietta Meredith hosted an intimate dinner at her home near Portland Place, Marylebone, a fashionable area of London. The occasion was to farewell Major Lachlan Macquarie, a distant cousin of Henrietta’s good friend Elizabeth Campbell. As young girls, Henrietta and Elizabeth had attended school together at Hammersmith. Macquarie, a Scottish-born army officer, had just become engaged to Miss Campbell, but was about to rejoin his regiment in India. No wedding date had been set and although it is likely Henrietta had some inkling of the couple’s “understanding”, it had not been made public.

The names of Miss Meredith’s other dinner guests were not recorded, but the Hon. Juliana Curzon, youngest daughter of Lord Scarsdale, was almost certainly present. The Curzon and Meredith families were connected by marriage and Henrietta looked upon Juliana as a sister. Elizabeth Campbell invariably singled out Miss Meredith as her “favourite friend”, but all three women were very close.

Macquarie’s brief courtship of Elizabeth had been more pragmatic than romantic. In his diary he spoke of her good sense and independence of spirit rather than her beauty and womanly charms. Their betrothal had come as a surprise, perhaps as much to Elizabeth as to those around her. At twenty-seven she was several years younger than Henrietta and Juliana but already considered a spinster, beyond the first bloom of youth. Macquarie was a forty-three-year-old widower whose wife Jane had died young (and childless) in India. He had grieved her loss for many years but the purchase of an estate on the Hebridean Isle of Mull had turned his thoughts to succession, and the possibility of a son and heir.

Like Macquarie, Elizabeth Campbell had been born and raised in Scotland, although at the time of his proposal she was living with her maternal aunt in London. It was here she settled down to wait for her fiancé’s return. Later that year Macquarie was given command of a regiment about to return to Britain, but on March 6, 1806, he wrote from India betraying his lack of ardour by suggesting he might voluntarily extend his stay until January 1808. Elizabeth’s feelings were hurt and her confidence in their relationship was shaken. Thanks to Henrietta Meredith she was able to give Macquarie a jolt and remind him that she was capable of leading a fulfilling life without him.

Miss Meredith had a friend and family connection called Elizabeth Meyrick, who lived at Holsworthy in Devon. It was arranged that Elizabeth Campbell would take a position as governess to the daughters of Miss Meyrick’s brother William, an Anglican minister. William and his wife resided in Gloucestershire but, perhaps due to family illness, young Mary and Hester (aged about eight and six) were staying at Holsworthy with their grandfather, the Rev. Owen Meyrick.

Elizabeth’s move to Devon produced the desired effect. Chastened by her reaction to his March 6 letter, Macquarie abandoned all thoughts of delaying his return. On November 3, 1807, the couple were married quietly at Holsworthy by Owen Meyrick. Elizabeth Meyrick was a witness. Macquarie’s willingness to travel to Devon after his long journey from India was both an acknowledgment of his bride’s strength of character and of her affection for the Meyrick family.

The newlyweds made their home in Perth, Scotland, where Macquarie’s regiment was now stationed. Elizabeth gave birth to a daughter the following year, but the baby died aged only three months. This sad event was followed almost immediately by the unwelcome news that Macquarie had been appointed governor of a penal colony at the very ends of the earth, New South Wales. When the Macquaries sailed from Portsmouth in May 1809, Elizabeth was also suffering from the emotional and physical effects of a miscarriage. She was in no condition to endue a gruelling six-month voyage and her friends must have farewelled her with heavy hearts.

Paradoxically, the voyage did much to restore Elizabeth’s health and spirits. The sea air was invigorating and as Elizabeth confided to her diary, there was another, very positive aspect to shipboard life:

13th October 1809—I have spent my time in the manner which entirely suits my inclination, having the comfort of my Husband’s company uninterrupted all the morning when we read or write in a social manner, which I shall never enjoy on shore, as when he has it in his power he shuts himself up alone all the morning to business; but here I am admitted through necessity.

The months of forced intimacy strengthened their marriage and helped prepare them for the challenges ahead.

Within weeks of Lachlan Macquarie being sworn in as Governor his wife hosted a dinner for nearly sixty Government House convicts; a stark contrast to Miss Meredith’s genteel dinner party in London. Later that year Elizabeth accompanied Macquarie on the first of many inspection tours of outlying settlements, encountering wild cattle, sleeping under canvas, and spending long hours in the saddle. On a happier note, the vice-regal party was entertained by Aboriginal dancers and by the sight of a young hunter scaling a tree to catch a goanna. Elizabeth’s travelogues must have created a good deal of chatter over the teacups in Portland Place.

In 1814, after suffering another five miscarriages, Elizabeth gave birth to a healthy baby boy, Lachlan Junior. The child’s arrival was the ultimate fulfilment of her marriage. In the years that followed she proved a wonderful support to her husband, particularly through her interest in landscape gardening, art and architecture.

In London, a great event in the lives of Henrietta and Juliana (who lived only a few streets apart) was the rebuilding of their parish church of St Mary-le-Bone. It is easy to imagine Elizabeth gently teasing them with news of her own role in redesigning the twin-towered St John’s church at Parramatta. The spires of St John’s had been modelled on those at Reculvers, a romantic ruined church on the north Kent coast that Henrietta and Elizabeth may well have visited together. Until her death in 1807, Henrietta’s aunt, Lady Mary Campbell, lived at Coombe Bank in Kent. Lady Mary had been a friend of Elizabeth’s mother, and also a kinswoman through her marriage to Lord Frederick Campbell.

Macquarie envisaged Australia as a thriving, egalitarian society but was censured for his championship of ex-convicts and for what was regarded as excessive spending on public works. By 1821, in the wake of the critical Bigge report, he had resigned from the position of governor. Nevertheless, he retained his affection for the colony, remaining engaged and enthusiastic until his last day in office. In early April 1821, Elizabeth and young Lachlan accompanied Macquarie on a final inspection tour of Van Diemen’s Land. Elizabeth’s thoughts were increasingly turning to home, and to her reunion with Henrietta and Juliana. While travelling from Launceston to Hobart, Macquarie wrote:

Monday 4th June 1821— … During this day’s Journey I gave the following new names to different Places along our Track, Vis; ‘Curzon-Downs’—‘Meredith Forest’ (called hitherto The Cross Marsh)—‘Meredith-Peak’—‘Curzon-Peak’ (so named in honour of Miss Meredith and Miss Curzon Friends of Mrs Macquarie).

Honours were thus bestowed equally, although Henrietta remained a step ahead of Juliana as there was already a Meredith Island (now Middle Island), near Port Stephens. Meanwhile, the settlement of Hols-worthy near Sydney had been named in remembrance of the Meyrick family and the Macquaries’ marriage.

Macquarie returned to Scotland in 1822 to find that his estate of Jarvisfield on the Isle of Mull was financially unviable and the house barely habitable. He took his family on an extended tour of Europe before finally moving into the cold, damp residence. In April 1824 a weary but indefatigable Macquarie travelled from Mull to London, determined to defend himself against the charges in the Bigge report and to secure the pension he felt he deserved. His days were filled with visits to government officials and to old acquaintances, but his diary indicates that only Miss Henrietta Meredith took the trouble to call on him.

In London, Macquarie’s health began to fail. On June 11, complications arose and his condition suddenly deteriorated. When news reached Mull a distraught Elizabeth rushed to London, and her husband died in her presence on July 1. Fortunately, Henrietta and Juliana were on hand to offer comfort and support. According to Elizabeth, Henrietta advised against accompanying Macquarie’s body back to Mull by sea: “In regard to going in the vessel to Mull, Miss Meredith told me that she knew it to be done in two instances. In one life was lost, in the other, the powers of the mind.”

Sadly, as winter approached Henrietta Meredith also fell ill. She died early in February 1825 and was buried on St Valentine’s Day in the crypt of St Mary-le-Bone, the church she and Juliana Curzon had watched being built. Miss Meredith had written her will on December 2, 1824, just five months after the death of Lachlan Macquarie. In a touching acknowledgment of her friend’s loss, Henrietta’s first mentioned legacy went to Elizabeth:

I give and bequeath unto Elizabeth Henrietta or Elizabeth Harriet Macquarie widow of the late Governor of New South Wales two thousand pounds three per cent secured annuities & also all my estate and interest in my leasehold house situated in the said Charlotte Street together with the coach house and stables … as well as the furniture and household effects including wine, trinkets and wearing apparel …

This generous bequest relieved Elizabeth of immediate money worries and allowed her to maintain her loyal defence of her late husband’s reputation. On June 6, 1825, she was able to inform the Colonial Office that she had “no need of pecuniary assistance from anyone”, and to refuse a government pension until Macquarie’s response to the Bigge report was published in 1828.

To Elizabeth Meyrick, Henrietta left four thousand pounds. The residue of the estate went to Juliana Curzon, who was the sole executrix.

By the time news of Elizabeth’s inheritance reached Sydney its size had been somewhat inflated. On May 16, 1827, the Sydney Gazette reported:

Mrs Macquarie, the Relict of the late venerated General and Governor, has lately received a fortune of £10,000 together with a superb mansion in Portland Square, by the death of an old and respected maiden lady.

Elizabeth lived in Henrietta’s house for several years before retiring to Jarvisfield. St Mary-le-Bone thus was her parish church, which she would have attended regularly with her friend (and now neighbour) Juliana Curzon.

Losing both her husband and her best friend within months was devastating for Elizabeth. Her grief was compounded by the death of her sister Jane in August 1824 and of Macquarie’s faithful manservant George Jarvis in January 1825. Jarvis had accompanied the Macquaries on all their travels and his passing meant that one of Elizabeth’s most important links with her beloved husband was broken. Small wonder that it was November 1825 before she felt able to write an account of Lachlan’s passing for the colonists in New South Wales. The long letter was written in homage to Macquarie, the man she had now raised virtually to the status of a saint. Surprisingly, she made no mention of the deaths of either George Jarvis or Henrietta Meredith. It was as though she felt that in the eyes of the world her sorrow over their loss might somehow diminish the sacred grief she felt for her husband.

The Hon. Juliana Curzon died in London on February 22, 1835. Her will was another remarkable expression of friendship. Although her siblings would be buried at the Curzon family estate of Kedleston Hall in Derbyshire, Juliana requested that she be interred in the same vault as Henrietta Meredith, in St Mary-le-Bone church. Her relatives received token legacies but, like Henrietta before her, Juliana left the bulk of her estate to her friends. To Elizabeth Macquarie she bequeathed a rose diamond ring, originally the gift of Henrietta, and also “the fine portrait [of] our mutual dear friend Miss Henrietta Meredith painted by Sir Thomas Lawrence which now hangs over the fire place in my front drawing room in Queen Ann Street”. Elizabeth was also to receive the substantial sum of five thousand pounds. The remainder of the estate was to be divided between Elizabeth Meyrick and her sisters, who were joint executrixes.

At the time of Juliana Curzon’s death Mrs Macquarie was herself very ill at Jarvisfield. She passed away less than three weeks later, on March 11, aged fifty-six. In her final days her friend’s bequest would have given Elizabeth great of peace of mind regarding her beloved but spoiled son, who had joined the army and was living a wild life with his regiment. Lachlan Jnr was about to reach his majority, and to assume control of the Macquarie estate from his trustees. It was his mother’s greatest wish that he should resign his commission and settle at Jarvisfield as a responsible highland laird. Thanks to Miss Curzon he might be now persuaded to so. An investment of five thousand pounds would go a long way towards making the estate financially viable.

Unfortunately, Lachlan Jnr developed into a dissolute spendthrift. He married, but died from the effects of alcohol abuse in 1845 aged just thirty-one. He had no issue and bequeathed the Macquarie estate to a friend, to whom he was deeply in debt. The fate of Juliana’s rose diamond ring and the portrait of Henrietta Meredith by Thomas Lawrence is unknown. One possibility is that the items passed to the family of Lachlan Jnr’s widow Isabella, the daughter of Colin Campbell of Jura. In 1977 a descendant of the Campbell family presented Sydney’s Mitchell Library with a watercolour miniature of Henrietta at the age of four.

Both Henrietta Meredith and Juliana Curzon left legacies to the Middlesex Hospital. For this reason I feel sure their spirits were undisturbed when their bodily remains were removed from St Mary-le-Bone church in 1980 so that the overcrowded crypt could be transformed into a National Health clinic and counselling centre. The friends were reinterred together at London’s Brookwood Cemetery.

Elizabeth Meyrick died at Holsworthy in 1853. Her nieces, the little girls Elizabeth Macquarie became governess to in 1806, did not marry. Mary Meyrick died at Bath, Somerset, in 1846. Her younger sister Hester lived on for almost half a century, dying at Bath in 1891 aged ninety-one. Hester retained a deep affection for the town of Holsworthy, perhaps due in part to her time there under Elizabeth Macquarie’s care. In her will Hester left a legacy to provide assistance for young girls from the town entering domestic service.

In the wake of Henrietta Meredith’s death, the continued friendship of Juliana Curzon and Elizabeth Meyrick helped sustain Mrs Macquarie during her years of widowhood, particularly after Lachlan Jr joined the army. Living alone at Jarvisfield in 1834, Elizabeth took comfort in re-reading a favourite book, James Boswell’s Life of Johnson (her copy is now held in Sydney’s Mitchell Library). The famous biography brought back happy memories, having been presented to the Macquaries as a wedding present by the Reverend Owen Meyrick in 1807. No doubt Elizabeth would have agreed with Johnson’s observation on friendship: “True happiness consists not in the multitude of friends but in their worth and choice.”

Pauline Conolly wrote “The Strange Story of the Macquarie Mausoleum” in the June issue.