George James MacDonald (Commissioner of Crown Lands)
George James MacDonald (12 May 1805 − 21 December 1851) was a
Early life
MacDonald was born in Holborn, London on 12 May 1805. He was the eldest son of Major James MacDonald of the British Army and was educated at Blundell's School in Tiverton, Devon. In his early 20s, he emigrated to New South Wales, arriving in 1826. He lived at a property called Bernera near Liverpool, New South Wales about 30 kilometres to the south-west of Sydney.[1]
Port Macquarie
In 1828, MacDonald was appointed to the position of clerk of stores with the
In 1830, MacDonald was chosen to lead a group of 12 armed Aboriginal men which included the well-known Aboriginal tracker Bob Barrett as a non-commissioned officer. This paramilitary force was to be sent to Tasmania to fight against the Aboriginal people there in the Black War. However, the colonial authorities disbanded the unit before it was deployed.[4]
Sydney
In 1830, Port Macquarie started to be wound down as a penal settlement and MacDonald was recalled to Sydney. Over the next few years he was appointed to various clerical positions including one at the Parramatta Female Factory in 1833.[1]
Punitive expedition to the Williams River
In the mid 1830s, the
MacDonald, due to his previous experience at Port Macquarie, was appointed as chief commissariat and interpreter to the natives for this military operation which was commanded by Major William Croker.
Commissioner of Crown Lands
In late 1837, MacDonald was appointed as a
The New England district at this time did not have a set northern boundary and MacDonald was often patrolling areas as far north as Moreton Bay.[15] In 1841, MacDonald and his troopers were involved in a large massacre of Aboriginal people at the junction of the Clarence River and the Orara River. In an early morning raid, an Aboriginal campsite near the riverbank was attacked by his Border Police resulting in many casualties, the bodies of some apparently floating downriver past "The Settlement", now known as South Grafton. The massacre was inflicted as punishment for the theft of materials from Dr John Dobie's Ramornie station.[16]
Around this time, MacDonald's relationship with a woman named Sophia Docker, to whom he was engaged, fell apart. Docker had accepted the advances of Edward Darvall, a captain in the Bengal Native Infantry and ceased her engagement to MacDonald. MacDonald challenged Darvall to a duel on the North Shore of Sydney in which they fired shots at each other but neither was hurt.[17]
With MacDonald being absent from the New England district on a regular basis, the local squatters were often left to their own devices to arrange punitive missions against Aboriginal people.
MacDonald continued as the Commissioner of Crown Lands in New England until 1848, when he was transferred to be the commissioner in the
Death
The Lower Darling district was an immense and arid area to patrol. MacDonald's health soon began to give way and in 1851 he found it necessary to travel to
Poetry
MacDonald wrote several works of poetry and prose mostly during the 1820s and 1830s. They were published in newspapers and periodicals and were well received. The subject matter of his compositions included Aboriginal Australians, nature, composers of classical music, and his own colonial experiences.[23][1]
References
- ^ a b c "George J. Macdonald". AustLit. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
- ^ "SHIPPING NEWS". The Australian. 17 October 1828. p. 3. Retrieved 9 April 2020 – via Trove.
- ISBN 978-0-909188-57-3
- ISBN 0868063177.
- The Sydney Herald. New South Wales, Australia. 11 June 1835. p. 2. Retrieved 9 April 2020 – via Trove.
- The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser. New South Wales, Australia. 11 June 1835. p. 2. Retrieved 9 April 2020 – via Trove.
- The Sydney Monitor. New South Wales, Australia. 15 July 1835. p. 3 (MORNING). Retrieved 9 April 2020 – via Trove.
- ISBN 978-0-85575-031-2)
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link - The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser. New South Wales, Australia. 1 October 1835. p. 2. Retrieved 9 April 2020 – via Trove.
- The Sydney Monitor. New South Wales, Australia. 24 November 1837. p. 2 (EVENING). Retrieved 9 April 2020 – via Trove.
- ISBN 978-0-86914-156-4
- ISSN 1325-9261, nla.obj-595105154, retrieved 9 April 2020 – via Trove
- ^ "DAYS OF OLD". The Sun. No. 850. New South Wales, Australia. 13 July 1919. p. 5. Retrieved 28 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
- The Sydney Herald. Vol. X, no. 984. New South Wales, Australia. 1 May 1840. p. 2. Retrieved 15 April 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Back to Uralla Committee (N.S.W.). Literary Committee. (1925), Back to Uralla souvenir, The Committee, retrieved 3 March 2019
- Daily Examiner. Vol. 26, no. 8520. New South Wales, Australia. 16 November 1935. p. 7. Retrieved 3 March 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "SUPREME COURT.—(IN BANCO.)". The Australian. 17 June 1841. p. 2. Retrieved 9 April 2020 – via Trove.
- ^ "EARLY HISTORY OF THE DEEPWATER AND BOLIVIA DISTRICTS". Glen Innes Examiner. Vol. 15, no. 2010. New South Wales, Australia. 12 October 1939. p. 10. Retrieved 3 March 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
- The Sydney Herald. Vol. IX, no. 928. New South Wales, Australia. 23 December 1839. p. 2. Retrieved 3 March 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
- Sydney Chronicle. New South Wales, Australia. 22 April 1848. p. 2. Retrieved 9 April 2020 – via Trove.
- ^ "BALRANALD". Riverina Recorder. New South Wales, Australia. 25 April 1936. p. 4. Retrieved 9 April 2020 – via Trove.
- ^ "Family Notices". The Sydney Morning Herald. New South Wales, Australia. 22 January 1852. p. 3. Retrieved 9 April 2020 – via Trove.
- The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser. New South Wales, Australia. 22 January 1831. p. 4. Retrieved 9 April 2020 – via Trove.