Charles Menzies (commandant)
Encyclopedia
Sir Charles A. F. N. Menzies (1783 – 22 August 1866) was born at Bal Freike, Perthshire
, Scotland
.
Although he became a respected soldier with the Royal Marines
, fighting with Horatio Nelson in the Napoleonic Wars
and later rising to the rank of general
before becoming aide de camp to the Queen, Charles Menzies is best remembered for the founding of Newcastle, New South Wales
and the successful commencement of its settlement between the age of 21 and 22.
and his family who lived in their ancestral castle, as was done at that time, bought him a commission at the age of 15, as a second lieutenant
in the marines on 17 February 1798.
Following his commission he saw plenty of action having been posted to duties that involved blockading French ports and chasing the French
and Spanish
fleets around the Mediterranean sea. He was attached to Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson's squadron off Boulogne, on France's Atlantic coast and was repeatedly involved in attacking shore batteries and engaged in skirmishes with French boats.
which was transporting some convicts to New South Wales and then others to form a new settlement in Tasmania
(then known as Van Diemen's land.
Menzies was aboard the ship in Port Jackson
, Sydney
on 5 March 1804 when a rebellion involving a number of convicts broke out in the area of Castle Hill. This incident would later be called the Vinegar Hill rebellion. Menzies with a detachment of marines landed from the ship to help quell the rebellion. He was promoted to lieutenant
shortly thereafter.
Governor Phillip Gidley King faced with a need to prevent future outbreaks of this nature, hanged the nine leaders of the 300 rebels involved and ordered the establishment of a new settlement to segregate the Worst of the Irish sent here for Sedition from the other convicts. On 14 March 1804, nine days after the rebellion Menzies wrote to the Governor offering his services as the settlement's commandant .
dated 15 March 1804 which appointed him as the commander of the settlement of Newcastle. The Commission signed by the Governor noted:
Menzies resigned his commission in relation to his detachment of Royal Marines and formed an expedition of skilled personnel including the surgeon
James Mileham, Isaac Knight whose role was to be superintendent of the convicts, John Tucker a store-keeper, the botanist George Caley
, Ferdinand Bauer
an artist, and eleven military guards. Thirty-four especially chosen convicts, including three miners, three timber cutters, two carpenters, a gardener and a salt bailer (with the skill of making salt from salt water) and which also fitted Governor King's description of the worst of the Irish left Sydney on 28 March in three small ships the Lady Nelson
, Francis and Resource.
The party arrived on 30 March by accounts at noon and Menzies' flotilla anchored of the entrance to Coal River. A boat from Menzies ship and seamen aboard the boat rowed him towards the southern shore of the river.
Menzies initially called the settlement Kingstown (after the Governor and as a continuation of the name used for a temporary settlement in 1800) — but this reverted to Newcastle, which was the Governor's personal choice.
s as possible, cutting cedar, clearing ground for cultivation and to enforce a due observance of religion and good order.
Although only aged 21 when he arrived at Newcastle, Menzies proved to be both stern and forward thinking.
This was shown by his rules which dictated that convicts would work from sunrise to sunset but have a rest of two hours in the middle of the day.
To reduce the possibility of the convicts escape, food rations were only issued twice a week to stop the convicts from hoarding food for any escape attempt.
Menzies befriended the local Awabakal
and Worimi peoples so that they would not assist any escapees.
Then later when he discovered a plot by the convicts to assassinate him and the other expedition members he arrested and severely punished the ringleaders.
Huts were constructed under his direction for both the expedition members and the convicts. He organised the building of a large stone wharf and established a coal beacon
to assist other ships in their navigation into the harbour.
Governor King said of Menzies in the year that he was commandant that he fixed that Settlement and brought it to a forward degree of perfection.
He was promoted to the rank of Captain in the Royal Marine Artillery during April, 1813.
He was promoted to command the Royal Marine Artillery from 1838 to 1844 indeed progressing through the ranks from major
to lieutenant-colonel and then in 1857 to general.
He was appointed aide-de-camp to the Queen Victoria in 1852.
and they married and had five children. Despite all this meritorious service his principal importance in Australia is as the founder of the first permanent settlement at Newcastle.
Perthshire
Perthshire, officially the County of Perth , is a registration county in central Scotland. It extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
Although he became a respected soldier with the Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
, fighting with Horatio Nelson in the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
and later rising to the rank of general
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
before becoming aide de camp to the Queen, Charles Menzies is best remembered for the founding of Newcastle, New South Wales
Newcastle, New South Wales
The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...
and the successful commencement of its settlement between the age of 21 and 22.
Early life
Menzies was the son of Captain Charles Menzies of the 71st Regiment, and mother Sarah Menzies, née Walker. He was educated at StirlingStirling
Stirling is a city and former ancient burgh in Scotland, and is at the heart of the wider Stirling council area. The city is clustered around a large fortress and medieval old-town beside the River Forth...
and his family who lived in their ancestral castle, as was done at that time, bought him a commission at the age of 15, as a second lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
in the marines on 17 February 1798.
Following his commission he saw plenty of action having been posted to duties that involved blockading French ports and chasing the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
fleets around the Mediterranean sea. He was attached to Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson's squadron off Boulogne, on France's Atlantic coast and was repeatedly involved in attacking shore batteries and engaged in skirmishes with French boats.
Arrival in Australia
In December 1803 Menzies sailed to Australia on board the HMS CalcuttaHMS Calcutta (1795)
HMS Calcutta was an East Indiaman converted to a Royal Navy 56-gun fourth rate. This ship of the line served for a time as an armed transport. She also transported convicts to Australia in a voyage that became a circumnavigation of the world. The French 74-gun Magnanime captured Calcutta in 1805...
which was transporting some convicts to New South Wales and then others to form a new settlement in Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
(then known as Van Diemen's land.
Menzies was aboard the ship in Port Jackson
Port Jackson
Port Jackson, containing Sydney Harbour, is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia. It is known for its beauty, and in particular, as the location of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge...
, Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
on 5 March 1804 when a rebellion involving a number of convicts broke out in the area of Castle Hill. This incident would later be called the Vinegar Hill rebellion. Menzies with a detachment of marines landed from the ship to help quell the rebellion. He was promoted to lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
shortly thereafter.
Governor Phillip Gidley King faced with a need to prevent future outbreaks of this nature, hanged the nine leaders of the 300 rebels involved and ordered the establishment of a new settlement to segregate the Worst of the Irish sent here for Sedition from the other convicts. On 14 March 1804, nine days after the rebellion Menzies wrote to the Governor offering his services as the settlement's commandant .
Establishment of Newcastle
Governor King accepted this offer and provided Menzies with a CommissionLetters patent
Letters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch or president, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, title, or status to a person or corporation...
dated 15 March 1804 which appointed him as the commander of the settlement of Newcastle. The Commission signed by the Governor noted:
- Whereas it is expedient, in consequence of an instruction from His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies and War Department, as well as from existing causes, that the settlement at the Coal Harbour and Hunter River, now distinguished by the name of Newcastle, in the county of Northumberland, should be re-established without loss of time...:
-
- You are, therefore, hereby required and directed to take upon you the charge and command of the said settlement; and I do hereby charge and command all His Majesty's subjects that may be within our command to obey your directions, and you to obey all such Orders and directions as you may from time to time receive from me, or any other your superior officer (sic), according to the rules and discipline of war. For which this shall be your authority.
Menzies resigned his commission in relation to his detachment of Royal Marines and formed an expedition of skilled personnel including the surgeon
Surgeon
In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...
James Mileham, Isaac Knight whose role was to be superintendent of the convicts, John Tucker a store-keeper, the botanist George Caley
George Caley
-Early life:Caley was born in Craven, Yorkshire, England, the son of a horse-dealer. He was educated at the Free Grammar School at Manchester for around four years and was then taken into his father's stables. Coming across a volume on farriery, he became interested in the herbs mentioned in...
, Ferdinand Bauer
Ferdinand Bauer
Ferdinand Lucas Bauer was an Austrian botanical illustrator who travelled on Matthew Flinders' expedition to Australia.-Biography:...
an artist, and eleven military guards. Thirty-four especially chosen convicts, including three miners, three timber cutters, two carpenters, a gardener and a salt bailer (with the skill of making salt from salt water) and which also fitted Governor King's description of the worst of the Irish left Sydney on 28 March in three small ships the Lady Nelson
Lady Nelson
The Royal Navy purchased Lady Nelson in 1799. She spent her career exploring the coast of Australia in the early years of the 19th century. She was the first known vessel to sail eastward through Bass Strait, the first to sail along the South coast of Victoria, as well as the first to enter Port...
, Francis and Resource.
The party arrived on 30 March by accounts at noon and Menzies' flotilla anchored of the entrance to Coal River. A boat from Menzies ship and seamen aboard the boat rowed him towards the southern shore of the river.
Menzies initially called the settlement Kingstown (after the Governor and as a continuation of the name used for a temporary settlement in 1800) — but this reverted to Newcastle, which was the Governor's personal choice.
Menzies' year in Newcastle
Other than the general Commission provided by the Governor, Menzies was instructed to use the convicts to get as many coalCoal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
s as possible, cutting cedar, clearing ground for cultivation and to enforce a due observance of religion and good order.
Although only aged 21 when he arrived at Newcastle, Menzies proved to be both stern and forward thinking.
This was shown by his rules which dictated that convicts would work from sunrise to sunset but have a rest of two hours in the middle of the day.
To reduce the possibility of the convicts escape, food rations were only issued twice a week to stop the convicts from hoarding food for any escape attempt.
Menzies befriended the local Awabakal
Awabakal
Awabakal or Awabagal may refer to:*Awabakal people*Awabakal language...
and Worimi peoples so that they would not assist any escapees.
Then later when he discovered a plot by the convicts to assassinate him and the other expedition members he arrested and severely punished the ringleaders.
Huts were constructed under his direction for both the expedition members and the convicts. He organised the building of a large stone wharf and established a coal beacon
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
to assist other ships in their navigation into the harbour.
Governor King said of Menzies in the year that he was commandant that he fixed that Settlement and brought it to a forward degree of perfection.
After Newcastle
After a year establishing Newcastle, Menzies submitted his resignation to Governor King so that he could return to England and his duty in the Royal Marines. King accepted his resignation and he left soon after, returning almost immediately to active service including a meritorious role in the war against Napoleon.He was promoted to the rank of Captain in the Royal Marine Artillery during April, 1813.
He was promoted to command the Royal Marine Artillery from 1838 to 1844 indeed progressing through the ranks from major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
to lieutenant-colonel and then in 1857 to general.
He was appointed aide-de-camp to the Queen Victoria in 1852.
Marriage and children
Menzies met Maria Wilhelmina, daughter of Dr Robert Bryant, physician to the Duke of GloucesterDuke of Gloucester
Duke of Gloucester is a British royal title , often conferred on one of the sons of the reigning monarch. The first four creations were in the Peerage of England, the next in the Peerage of Great Britain, and the last in the Peerage of the United Kingdom; this current creation carries with it the...
and they married and had five children. Despite all this meritorious service his principal importance in Australia is as the founder of the first permanent settlement at Newcastle.
Awards
- K.H. in 1831
- Knight Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1856