William MacGregor
Encyclopedia
Sir William MacGregor GCMG
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....

, CB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...

 (20 October 1846 – 3 July 1919) was a Lieutenant-Governor of British New Guinea, Governor of Newfoundland
Lieutenant-Governors of Newfoundland and Labrador
The following is a list of the Governors and Lieutenant Governors of Newfoundland and later Newfoundland and Labrador. Though the present day office of the lieutenant governor in Newfoundland and Labrador came into being only upon the province's entry into Canadian Confederation in 1949, the post...

 and Governor of Queensland.

Early life

MacGregor was born in Hillockhead, parish of Towie
Towie
Towie is a small hamlet in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, close to Alford and Lumsden.One of the most notable features of Towie is its small primary school with nursery, which is located in the village itself. Towie also has a bowling club and a beautiful church with historic graveyard.The village is...

, Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire (historic)
Aberdeenshire or the County of Aberdeen is a registration county of Scotland. This area is also a lieutenancy area.Until 1975 Aberdeenshire was one of the counties of Scotland, governed by a county council from 1890...

, 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...

, the eldest son of John MacGregor, a crofter, and his wife Agnes, daughter of William Smith of Pitprone. MacGregor was educated at the school at Tillyduke and worked as a farm labourer. Encouraged by his schoolmaster and the local doctor who recognized MacGregor's ability, he entered Aberdeen Grammar School in April 1866 and enrolled at the University of Aberdeen
University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen, an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland, is a British university. It is the third oldest university in Scotland, and the fifth oldest in the United Kingdom and wider English-speaking world...

 in October 1867. He graduated M.B. and C.M. of Aberdeen university in 1872, and obtained his M.D. in 1874. MacGregor also studied at Anderson's Medical College (L.F.P.S.
Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow
The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, is an institute of physicians and surgeons in Glasgow, Scotland.Founded by Peter Lowe after receiving a royal charter by James VI in 1599, as the Glasgow Faculty, this institution originally existed as a regulatory authority to ensure that...

) and the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...

 (L.R.C.P.).
MacGregor then became a medical assistant at the Royal Lunatic Asylum, Aberdeen.

Medical career

In February 1873 MacGregor became assistant medical officer at the Seychelles
Seychelles
Seychelles , officially the Republic of Seychelles , is an island country spanning an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, some east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar....

, and in 1874 he was appointed resident at the hospital and superintendent of the lunatic asylum at Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...

. This brought him under the notice of Sir Arthur Gordon
Arthur Gordon
Arthur St. Clair Gordon was a manufacturer and Ontario provincial politician. Gordon, a Liberal, was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 1934 provincial election that brought Liberal Mitchell Hepburn to power. He represented the riding of Kent West from 1934 until 1945.He...

 who was then governor of the island, and on Gordon being transferred to Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...

 in 1875, he obtained MacGregor's services as chief medical officer of Fiji. There he had to grapple with a terrible epidemic of measles
Measles
Measles, also known as rubeola or morbilli, is an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. Morbilliviruses, like other paramyxoviruses, are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses...

, which resulted in the death of 50,000 natives. In 1877 he was made receiver-general and subsequently a variety of other offices was added, including the colonial secretaryship. On more than one occasion he acted as governor, and was also acting high commissioner and consul-general for the western Pacific. In 1884 the ship Syria, with coolies for Fiji, ran ashore about 15 miles from Suva
Suva
Suva features a tropical rainforest climate under the Koppen climate classification. The city sees a copious amount of precipitation during the course of the year. Suva averages 3,000 mm of precipitation annually with its driest month, July averaging 125 mm of rain per year. In fact,...

. MacGregor organized a relief expedition and personally saved several lives; his report made no mention of his own deeds, but they could not remain hidden, and he was given the Albert Medal
Albert Medal (lifesaving)
The Albert Medal for Lifesaving was a British medal awarded to recognise the saving of life. It has since been replaced by the George Cross.The Albert Medal was first instituted by a Royal Warrant on 7 March 1866 and discontinued in 1971 with the last two awards promulgated in the London Gazette of...

, and the Clarke gold medal of the Royal Humane Society of Australasia for saving life at sea. In January 1886 he represented Fiji at the meeting of the federal council of Australasia held at Hobart
Hobart
Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...

.

Administrator and governor

MacGregor's experience with native races led to his being appointed administrator of British New Guinea in 1888. Here he had to deal with a warlike people separated in many tribes, and his great problem was to get them to live together in reasonable amity. It was necessary at times to make punitive expeditions, but bloodshed was avoided as much as possible, and by tact and perseverance MacGregor eventually brought about a state of law and order. He did a large amount of exploration not only along the coast but into the interior. Andrew Gibb Maitland
Andrew Gibb Maitland
Andrew Gibb Maitland was an English-born Australian geologist.Maitland was born in Birkby, Yorkshire, England and studied civil engineering at Yorkshire College of Science, Leeds where he was influenced by the professor of geology Alexander Henry Green.In 1888 he was assigned Second Assistant...

 was seconded as geologist in 1891. In 1892 the position was sufficiently settled to enable him to publish a Handbook of Information for intending Settlers in British New Guinea.

MacGregor was appointed lieutenant-governor in 1895, and retired from this position in 1898. From 1899 to 1904 he was governor of Lagos Colony
Lagos Colony
Lagos Colony was a British colonial possession centered on the port of Lagos in what is now southern Nigeria. Lagos was annexed on 6 August 1861 and declared a colony on 5 March 1862....

, Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

, where he instituted a campaign against the prevalent malaria, draining the swamps and destroying as far as possible the mosquitoes which were responsible for the spread of the disease. Much other important work in developing the country was done by making roads and building a railway. His efforts to improve the health of his community led to his being given the Mary Kingsley medal in 1910 by the Society of Tropical Medicine. He had been transferred in 1904 to Newfoundland of which he was governor for five years. Here again his medical knowledge was most useful in the combating of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...

 which was then very prevalent in Newfoundland. He also did valuable work in dealing with the fisheries question, persuading the contending parties to refer the dispute to the Hague international tribunal which brought about an amicable settlement. On 2 December 1909 MacGregor was appointed Governor of Queensland.

MacGregor assisted in the inauguration of the University of Queensland
University of Queensland
The University of Queensland, also known as UQ, is a public university located in state of Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest and largest university in Queensland and the fifth oldest in the nation...

, he agreed to the handing over of his residence Old Government House
Old Government House, Queensland
Queensland's first Government House is located at Gardens Point in the grounds of the Queensland University of Technology at the end of George Street in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia...

 to be its first home, and one of his first acts as governor was to attend the dedication ceremony on 10 December 1909. He also became the first chancellor and took great pride in the early development of the university. MacGregor was also president of the Royal Geographical Society of Queensland. He chaired the inaugral meeting of the Historical Society of Queensland
Royal Historical Society of Queensland
The Royal Historical Society of Queensland is a historical society founded in Brisbane, Australia in 1913. It promotes the study of Australian history especially that of Queensland and adjacent Pacific islands. It maintains an important collection and catalogue of historical research materials and...

 in August 1913 and became its patron.

Retirement and death

In 1914 MacGregor retired and went to live on an estate in Berwickshire
Berwickshire
Berwickshire or the County of Berwick is a registration county, a committee area of the Scottish Borders Council, and a lieutenancy area of Scotland, on the border with England. The town after which it is named—Berwick-upon-Tweed—was lost by Scotland to England in 1482...

, Scotland. During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 he was able to do a certain amount of war work, and also lectured on his experience of German rule in the Pacific. After an operation for intestinal adhesions and gall-stones MacGregor died on 3 July 1919 and was buried beside his parents in the churchyard of Towie, the village where he was born. He married in 1883 Mary Jane, daughter of Capt. R. Cocks, who survived him with one son and three daughters. He was created C.M.G. in 1881, K.C.M.G. in 1889, C.B. in 1897, G.C.M.G. in 1907, and was made a privy councillor
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...

 in 1914. He had the honorary degrees of D.Sc. Cambridge and LL.D. Aberdeen, Edinburgh, and Queensland.

Two Australian suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...

s are named after him: Macgregor
Macgregor, Queensland
Macgregor is a suburb in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Its postal code is 4109. It is in the Australian Federal electorate of Moreton and its current member is the Honourable Mr Graham Perrett MP. Most of Macgregor is in the Queensland state electorate of Sunnybank, with only the northern tip...

 in Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

 and Macgregor
Macgregor, Australian Capital Territory
Macgregor is a residential suburb in the Belconnen district of Canberra. It was gazetted on 9 September 1971. It lies next to the suburbs of Dunlop, Latham and Holt on the western side of Belconnen, with Florey Drive the boundary to the east, Ginninderra Drive on the north, and Southern Cross...

, Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...

.

External links

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