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Was born in Ayrshire,
Scotland, on 23 July 1773. His father, Sir Thomas Brisbane, Bart., fought
at Culloden, his mother was Eleonora, daughter of Sir William Bruce, Bart.
He was educated by tutors and at the university of Edinburgh. In his
seventeenth year he joined the army as an ensign, in 1793 was on active
service in Belgium, and in 1796 in the West Indies. Returning to England
in 1799 he held various positions and was appointed adjutantgeneral of the
staff at Canterbury in 1810. He was a brigadier-general in the Duke of
Wellington's peninsular army in 1812, was promoted to the rank of
major-general in 1813, and went in command of a brigade to the United
States in 1814. Recalled to England he was too late to fight at Waterloo,
but was with the army of occupation until 1818. In November 1819 he
married Anna Maria Makdougall. On 3 November 1820 he was advised that he
had been appointed governor of New South Wales, and he arrived at Sydney
on 7 November 1821.
Brisbane had always been
interested in astronomy and in 1808 had erected an observatory near his
house in Ayrshire. He brought with him to Australia two astronomical
assistants, Charles Rümker (q.v.) and James Dunlop (q.v.), and while
waiting for Macquarie to complete his final arrangements, interested
himself in making astronomical observations. A few months later he built
at Parramatta the first properly equipped Australian observatory. He took
over the government on 1 December j821, and at once proceeded to carry out
some of the reforms recommended in the report of J. T. Bigge (q.v.). It
was unfortunate that Brisbane did not 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 will, however, show that Bigge's
recommendations had been carefully considered, and that many improvements
had been made (H.R. of A., vol. XI, pp. 571-88). Brisbane did not
confine 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, with the result that not only
were the convicts healthily employed, but they helped to pay for their own
keep. More system was brought into the granting of tickets of leave and
pardons. Generally Brisbane's administration had a good effect on the
morality of the colony, as the number of persons convicted at the criminal
court fell from 208 in 1822 to 100 in 1824. Another improvement made by
Brisbane was the introduction in 1823 of a system of calling for supplies
by tender. When Dr Wardell (q.v.) and Wentworth (q.v.) brought out their
paper the Australian in 1824 Brisbane decided to try the experiment
of allowing full latitude of the freedom of the press.
In 1824 an important step
took place in the development of government in Australia by the
appointment of a nominee council to assist the governor. Brisbane had no
desire to be an autocrat and encouraged the development of the council by
continually bringing matters before it for consideration. Improvemerits
were also made in the constitution of the judicial courts, and a
restricted form of trial by jury was introduced. One official piece of
exploration carried out by John Oxley (q.v.) during Brisbane's
administration eventually led to the colonization of Queensland, and the
private expedition of Hamilton Hume (q.v.) and W. H. Hovell (q.v.) first
drew attention to the possibilities of the colonization of what is now
Victoria. Another important development was the encouragement of free
immigration.
It is clear that Brisbane
was doing useful work, but he could no more escape the effects of the
faction fights that were constantly going on than could his predecessors.
Henry G. Douglass, the assistant-surgeon, was the centre of one of the
conflicts that was fought with great bitterness. Arising out of this,
charges of various kinds against Brisbane were sent to England. The worst
of these, that he had 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 (q.v.), 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 acting far too much
on his own responsibility, and in 1824 reported his conduct to Earl
Bathurst. In reply Bathurst recalled both the governor and the colonial
secretary in dispatches dated 29 December 1824. 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 interested in science, his estate, and his regiment. In 1832 he
was elected president of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 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, did valuable work, and died much respected and
honoured on 27 January 1860. His four children predeceased him.
Brisbane was tall, handsome
and benevolent-looking. He was sincerely religious, perfectly impartial,
rational and far-seeing, an intellectual and scientific man and a patron
of science. The only charge made against him that appears to have any
foundation is that he left details to his subordinates. Some people would
consider that to be the essence of government. There is no evidence for
the suggestion that Brisbane's interest in his observatory caused him to
neglect his official duties. When he found that Goulburn was not
supporting him he brought the matter before the colonial office, which
quite characteristically solved the question by recalling both officers
without giving any reason for doing so. Brisbane did good work as a
governor, and was the ideal man to be in that position when the first step
from autocracy to responsible government was made by establishing the
nominee council. 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
K.C.B. in 1814 and G.C.B. in 1837. |
