Everything about Thomas Brisbane totally explained
Major-General
Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, 1st Baronet,
GCH,
GCB (
July 23,
1773 –
January 27,
1860), soldier, colonial Governor and astronomer.
Early life
Brisbane was born at Brisbane House, near
Largs in
Ayrshire,
Scotland, the son of Sir Thomas Brisbane and Dame Eleanora Brisbane. He was educated in astronomy and mathematics at the
University of Edinburgh. He joined the
British Army in 1789 or 1793 and had a distinguished career in
Flanders, the
West Indies,
Spain and
North America. He served under the
Duke of Wellington. In 1813 he was promoted to
Major-General, and went in command of a
brigade to the
United States in 1814. In November 1819 he married Anna Maria Makdougall.
Governor
In 1821, on the recommendation of Wellington, Brisbane was appointed
Governor of New South Wales, a post he held until 1825. While Governor he tackled the many problems of a rapidly growing and expanding colony. He worked to improve the land grants system and to reform the currency. He set up the first agricultural training college in New South Wales and was the first patron of the
New South Wales Agricultural Society. He conducted experiments in growing tobacco, cotton, coffee and
New Zealand flax in the colony.
Brisbane took over the government on
1 December 1821, and at once proceeded to carry out some of the reforms recommended in the report of
John Thomas Bigge. Brisbane didn't always receive loyal support from his administrative officers, and in particular from Frederick Goulburn, the colonial secretary. A reference to Brisbane's dispatch to Earl Bathurst dated
14 May 1825 shows that Bigge's recommendations had been carefully considered, and that many improvements had been made. Brisbane didn't limit his attention to Bigge's report. Early in April 1822 he discovered with some surprise the ease with which grants of land had hitherto been obtained. He immediately introduced a new system under which every grant had the stipulation that for every hundred acres granted the grantee would maintain free of expense to the crown one convict labourer. He also encouraged agriculture on government land, streamlined granting of tickets of leave and pardons and introduced, in 1823, a system of calling for supplies by tender. When
Dr. Robert Wardell and
William Wentworth brought out their paper the
Australian in 1824, Brisbane tried the experiment of allowing full latitude of the freedom of the press.
In 1823 Brisbane sent Lieutenant
John Oxley to find a new site for convicts who were repeat offenders. Oxley discovered a large river flowing into
Moreton Bay. A year later, the first convicts arrived at Moreton Bay. Brisbane visited the settlement in 1826. Oxley suggested that both the
river and the
settlement be named after Brisbane. The convict settlement was declared a town in 1834 and opened to free settlement in 1839.
Brisbane was doing useful work, but he couldn't escape the effects of the constant faction fights which also plagued previous governors. Henry G. Douglass, the assistant-surgeon, was the centre of one of the bitter conflicts. Consequently, charges of various kinds against Brisbane were sent to England. The worst of these, that he'd connived at sending female convicts to Emu Plains for immoral purposes, was investigated by William Stewart, the lieutenant-governor, John Stephen, assistant judge, and the [Rev. William Cowper, senior assistant-chaplain, and found to be without the slightest foundation. Brisbane discovered that Goulburn, the colonial secretary, had been withholding documents from him and answering some without reference to the governor, and in 1824 reported his conduct to
Earl Henry Bathurst. In reply, Bathurst recalled both the governor and the colonial secretary in dispatches dated
29 December 1824.
Later years
Brisbane left Sydney in December 1825 and returned to Scotland. In 1826 he added the name of
Makdougall before
Brisbane, and settled down to the life of a country gentleman and took interest in science, his estate, and his regiment. He was elected president of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh (1832) in succession to Sir
Walter Scott, and in 1836 he was created a
baronet. In the same year he was offered the command of the troops stationed in
Canada and two years later the chief command in
India, but declined both. He continued his astronomical researches, and did valuable work.
He was the first patron of science in Australia, and as such was eulogized by Sir
John Herschel when he presented Brisbane with the gold medal of the
Royal Astronomical Society in 1828.
Oxford and
Cambridge gave him the honorary degree of D.C.L., and he was elected a fellow of the Royal Societies of both
London and
Edinburgh. He was created
KCB in 1814 and
GCB in 1837.
Brisbane was a keen astronomer throughout his career. He had an
observatory built at his ancestral home in 1808. From this observatory he was able to contribute to the advances in navigation which took place over the next hundred years. He took all his instruments and two astronomical assistants,
Carl Ludwig Christian Rümker and
James Dunlop to New South Wales with him, first properly equipped Australian observatory at
Parramatta. While waiting for Macquarie to complete his final arrangements, interested himself in making astronomical observations. In 1822 he established an observatory at
Parramatta west of
Sydney. In 1828 he won the
Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society. He published
The Brisbane Catalogue of 7,385 stars of the
Southern Hemisphere in 1835. The Observatory was used until 1855.
When Brisbane returned to Scotland he continued his studies and built a further observatory on his wife's estate, Makerstoun, near
Kelso in the
Borders. He was a member of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh and received their
Keith Prize in 1848. He was elected president in 1833 after the death of Sir
Walter Scott, and in the following year acted as president of the
British Association for the Advancement of Science. He founded a gold medal for the encouragement of scientific research to be awarded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
Brisbane died much respected and honoured on
27 January 1860 in
Largs. His four children predeceased him. He is buried in the Brisbane Vault, which is in the small
kirkyard next to Skelmorlie Aisle, Largs Old Kirk.
Named after Thomas Brisbane
The following features are named for Thomas Brisbane:
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