General Colin Macaulay (1759-1836)

A distinguished son of Lismore

In the 18^th Century, Lismore seems to have been particularly adept at producing individuals of great talent and productivity whose reputations have faded into obscurity.  In 2019, we focussed on Dugald Carmichael, a distinguished soldier and eminent scientist, who chose to spend his retirement studying algae on the shore at Ardtur rather than being lionised in London.  Here we explore the life of another modest bachelor:  Colin MacAulay, soldier, diplomat, linguist, orientalist, collector of manuscripts, activist in the movement for the abolition of slavery, and friend and colleague of Lord Wellington.

Colin Macaulay was born on Lismore  in 1759 to the parish minister, John Macaulay (1720-1789) and his second wife Margaret Campbell.  He was the second of their six sons and six daughters, and there was another son by his first marriage. In the chapter devoted to John (minister of Lismore and Appin 1756-1765) in “Lismore in Alba”,  Ian Carmichael reports that he was a harsh and unpopular pastor;  when he announced his departure to serve in Inveraray, nobody could be found to urge him to stay.  In his previous charge on South Uist (1745-1756) he had attracted the hostility of his parishoners by his actions in trying to betray the Young Pretender to the authorities.

Lieut. Colin Macaulay in 1792

Reproduced by the kind permission of the Provost and Scholars of King’s College, Cambridge

As a third son out of thirteen children, Colin had to make his own way in the world.  He joined the East India Company as a cadet in 1777, and rose by his own abilities to major-general in 1814.   First based in Madras, he was captured in the Second Mysore War, and imprisoned for at least three years in Seringapatam until 1784, but it must have been satisfying to take part in 1799 in the defeat of Tipu Sultan at the Battle of Seringapatam.

These were the years when he formed his lifelong friendship with Arthur Wellesley, later Lord Wellington, serving for a time as his secretary;  acquired a notable competence in both European and Indian languages;  and began to collect manuscripts and antiquities, many of which have ended up in collections in the UK.   By 1800, he was a senior administrator in Travancore, during turbulent times, surviving an assassination attempt.  Dogged by ill-health, he returned to the UK in 1810.

His later years in England, with visits to the Mediterranean for his health, involved two of his siblings.  His younger brother Zachary (1768-1838), born at Inveraray, sought his fortune in Jamaica, managing a sugar plantation, where he developed an enduring opposition to slavery.

He subsequently became governor of Sierra Leone, a colony established for emancipated slaves.  Meanwhile their sister Jean (1764-1845), born on Lismore, had married a wealthy evangelical Christian, Thomas Babington, an active supporter of William Wilberforce, the leading slavery abolitionist.  Zachary, Colin and Babington were members of  The Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade;  its activities culminated in the passing of the Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade in the British Empire, 1807.  Zachary’s contribution was recognised after his death by a memorial in Westminster Abbey.  In spite of his conservative politics, Lord Wellington was also an ardent abolitionist, working to convince other countries to give up the slave trade.   Colin Macaulay acted as his assistant after 1814, making good use of his translating skills;   and he accompanied Wellington to the Congress of Verona in 1822, where Britain submitted proposals for the entire Abolition of the Slave Trade.

In his later years, Macaulay devoted himself to the Bible Society, including translations into Asian languages.  Copies of correspondence during this time are held in the Cambridge University Archive.[1]  He served briefly as MP for Saltash in Cornwall, but never settled permanently, travelling continually in search of benign climates.  He died at Clifton, Bristol, on 20 February 1836, leaving a legacy of £10,000 (around £1.2m today) to Zachary’s son Thomas Babington Macaulay (later Lord Macaulay, politician, essayist and historian) – a bequest which no doubt was important in the development of his career.  His other notable contribution was in the preservation of valuable manuscripts.[2]

The Wellington letter in the Lismore archive is very mundane, but it reveals the close relationship between the two men.  The signature of Wellington, alone, is of significant value.

London Dec 8^th 1820

My dear Macaulay

You will probably have been surprized at not having before now received an answer to two letters which you sent me on your claim to be a Commander of the Bath;  but I hope you will think that I did right in delaying my answer till I could communicate with Mr Canning[3].  This I could not do in a satisfactory manner till he returned to England lately;  and I have since done it both verbally & by letter.  I enclose his answer to me; and, M.G.[4] Macaulay, I only regret that his communication is not more satisfactory.

Believe me I am yours most sincerely

Wellington

With these I return Lord Buckingham’s letter.

Acknowledgements: Douglas Breingan noticed this letter for sale on Ebay and alerted the Board Members of CELM, who combined to meet the purchase price.  Thanks are due to Catherine Ansorge (University of Cambridge Archive) and Tom Davies (Assistant Archivist, King’s College, University of Cambridge) for advice and permission to reproduce the 1792 portrait.

[1] https://archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk/repositories/2/archival_objects/228277    GBR/0374/BFBS/BSAX/1/M   Macaulay, Colin (General): 19 letters from England and Italy 1810-1834.

[2] See, for example:  War and words: Colin Macaulay and his manuscript connections.  https://specialcollections-blog.lib.cam.ac.uk/?p=21667

[3] George Canning.  President of the Board of Trade in 1820.  Later Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister (1827).

[4] Major General.  He continued to rise in rank although not on the active army list

by Robert Hay

Report: Pauline Dowling

November 2021