Major-General Lachlan Macquarie CB (31 January 1762[1] – 1 July 1824; Scottish Gaelic spelling: Lachlann MacGuaire), [2] was a British military officer and colonial administrator, served as Governor of New South Wales from 1810 to 1821 and had a leading role in the social, economic and architectural development of that colony. Historians assess his influence on the transition of New South Wales from a penal colony to a free settlement as being crucial to the shaping of Australian society.

Lachlan Macquarie was born on the island of Ulva off the coast of the Isle of Mull in the Inner Hebrides, a chain of islands off the West Coast of Scotland. He left the island at the age of 14[3]. He was educated at the Royal High School of Edinburgh.

Macquarie joined the 84th Regiment of Foot in 1776 and served in North America, India and Egypt. Macquarie became a Freemason in January 1793 at Bombay, India, in Lodge No. 1 (No. 139 on the register of the English "Moderns" Grand Lodge) [4]. He was promoted captain in 1789, major in 1801, and lieutenant-colonel, commanding the 73rd Regiment of Foot, in 1805.

In November 1807, Macquarie's cousin Elizabeth Henrietta Campbell became his second wife. In April 1809 Macquarie was appointed Governor of New South Wales. He was given a mandate to restore government and discipline in the colony following the Rum Rebellion against Governor William Bligh. The British government decided to reverse its practice of appointing naval officers as Governor and chose an army commander in the hope that he could secure the co-operation of the unruly New South Wales Corps. He was promoted colonel in 1810, brigadier in 1811 and major-general in 1813, while serving as governor. Macquarie was also a skilled builder whose constructions famously still stand today.