Macquarie's Towns

Over 200 years ago, Lachlan Macquarie, the Governor of NSW was touring the Hawkesbury district and named the 'Macquarie Towns.' After breakfast on Thursday 6 December 1810, Macquarie set out with a party which included surveyors as well as local residents, William Cox and Richard Fitzgerald. They travelled across the river to look for a suitable locality on the other side of the Hawkesbury River. His journal entry records this historic event at Windsor, formerly the Green Hills.  

Having crossed the Ferry at the Green Hills to the North side of the River, we proceeded … about 7 miles from the Green Hills; … where we looked for an eligible Spot for the intended Town and Township for the accommodation of the Settlers of the Phillip District [Wilberforce]and others inhabiting the Northern Bank of the River Hawkesbury, and after carefully surveying the different Parts of the Common we fixed on a very safe and convenient situation for the Town and Township in this part of the Country; which done we returned home and arrived at Government Cottage at 1/2 past 2 o'clock. Took some refreshment and walked out to survey the Grounds belonging to the Crown in and near the present village on the Green Hills [Windsor] and also the adjoining Public Common marked out for this part of the Country in the time of Governor King; a convenient part of which it is now my intention to appropriate for a large Town and Township for the accommodation of the Settlers inhabiting the South side of the River Hawkesbury, whose Farms are liable to be flooded on any inundation of the River, and to connect the present Village on the Green Hills with the intended new Town and Township. After viewing the ground and maturely considering the importance of the measure, the scite [sic] and situation of the new Town was at length fixed finally upon ---the exact scite of the new Church and Great Square being particularly marked out, as well as the extent and situation of the new Burying Ground; the Acting Surveyor, Mr. Meehan, receiving orders to measure and make out a Plan of the whole. 

Lachlan Macquarie, 1822 / Richard Read (ca. 1765-1827?)

From the collections of the State Library of NSW

A large Party of Friends dined with us today, consisting in all of 21 Persons … After Dinner I christened the new Townships, drinking a Bumper to the success of each. I gave the name of Windsor to the Town intended to be erected in the District of the Green Hills, in continuation of the present Village, from the similarity of this situation to that of the same name in England; the Township in the Richmond District I have named Richmond, from its beautiful situation, and as corresponding with that of its District; the Township for the Evan or Nepean District I have named Castlereagh in honor of Lord Viscount Castlereagh; the Township of the Nelson District I have named Pitt-Town in honor of the immortal memory of the late great William Pitt, the Minister who originally planned this Colony; and the Township for the Phillip District; on the North or left Bank of the Hawkesbury, I have named Wilberforce -- in honor of and out of respect to the good and virtuous Wm. Wilberforce Esqr. M.P. -- a true Patriot and the real Friend of Mankind.  

Map of Windsor
Source: Surveyor General Sketch books, State Records NSW 

Having sufficiently celebrated this auspicious Day of christening the five Towns and Townships, intended to be erected and established for the security and accommodation of the Settlers and others inhabiting the Cultivated Country, on the Banks of the Rivers Hawkesbury and Nepean; I recommended to the Gentlemen present to exert their influence with the Settlers in stimulating them to lose no time in removing their Habitations, Flocks & Herds to these places of safety and security, and thereby fulfil my intentions and plans in establishing them. 

 As soon as we had broke up from Table, Captain Antill, accompanied by Messrs. Lord and Moore, who had dined with us, set out by water for Scotland Island, a part of the Estate of the late Mr. Thompson, in order to take an account of his Property there, the rest of our Party returning to their respective Homes, highly gratified with their entertainment. 

Note: Journals of his Tour in NSW & Van Diemens Land by Lachlan Macquarie also available on Macquarie University’s Journeys in Time site

Hawkesbury Settlers Address 1810

The following address was printed in the Sydney Gazette 8 Dec 1810, p. 1 from the settlers of Hawkesbury and presented to Governor Lachlan Macquarie in Windsor, by Thomas Arndell. Thomas, a prominent Hawkesbury resident, Magistrate was the Assistant Surgeon with the First Fleet in 1788. The address read:

    

"We, the undersigned settlers, residents of the Hawkesbury and its vicinity, beg leave respectfully to congratulate your Excellency on your arrival at this settlement, and earnestly hope your Excellency will be pleased with the agricultural improvements and industry that pervade here; and trust that the continuance of our exertions will ever merit your Excellency's approbation. We also beg leave to return our unfeigned thanks for your Excellency's recent appointment of William Cox, Esq., as a magistrate at this place - a gentleman who for many years has resided amongst us, possessing our esteem and confidence, who, from his local knowledge of this settlement, combined with his many other good qualities, will, we are convinced, promote your Excellency's benign intention of distributing justice and happiness to all." 

The settlers signing the address were as follows:

Thomas Appledore    William Etrel       John Merritt

Thomas Arkell           G.W. Evans        James Milaman

Thomas Arndell         William Ezzy        Patrick Murphy

Benjamin Baits          William Faithful    Henry Murray

William Baker           Daniel Fane         Richard Norris

Henry Baldwin          Robert Farlow     Charles Palmer

William Baxter          Edward Field       Thos. Matcham Pitt

John Baylis               R. Fitzgerald        James Portsmouth

David Bell                Thomas Gordon   Edward Pugh

John Benn                John Gregory       Paul Randall

Elias Bishop             Jonathan Griffiths  James Richards

James Blackman      Robert Guy           Jacob Russell

John Boulton           Thomas Hagger     John Ryan

John Bowman         George Hall           William Shaw

Paul Bushel             Thomas Hampson  William Simpson

William Carlisle       John Harris            William Small

Richard Carr          William Heydon      Robert Smith

Benjamin Carver     Thomas Hobby      Stephen Smith

Thomas Cheshire     John Jones            Benjamin South

Patrick Closhel        Donald Kennedy   Thomas Spencer

John Cobcroft         Henry Lamb          John Stevenson

Pierce Collett          Thomas Lambley   Owen Tierney

George Collis          John Leese            James Wall

Roger Connor         Matthew Lock       John Watts

Thomas Cowling     John Lyoner           James Welsh

Hugh Devlyn           Joseph McColding Thomas Weyham

John Dight              Daniel McKay        John Wild

William Dye           Thomas Markwell    Caleb Wilson

Elizabeth Earl         Robert Martin          Robert Wilson

William Eaton         Laurence May         Thomas Winston

Rowland Edwards   Martin Mentz          John Yoel

John Embrey        

Governor Macquarie responded:

"I beg you will make known to those respectable settlers of the Hawkesbury who signed the address presented by you to me, that I am much pleased with the sentiments it conveys, and to assure them that it will always be an object of the greatest interest to me to promote their prosperity by every means in my power. With this view I have fixed on ground for four(sic) different townships for the accommodation of the settlers who have suffered so severely by the floods of the river; and by a speedy removal to those situations of security, I hope they will enjoy the fruits of that labour, which, I am happy to observe, promises this season to be rewarded with one of the finest crops I ever beheld in any country. I hope on my return to this part of the colony to find the new habitations built on an improved and enlarged plan to those hitherto erected on the banks of the Hawkesbury. I am very glad to find that my appointment of Mr. Cox has met with the satisfaction of the settlers, and I have every reason to believe that he will fulfil the duties of his office so as to gain the good will of all."

Hawkesbury River at Windsor NSW.  M. Nichols 2013