Sir William MacGregor, (20 October 1846 – 3 July 1919) was a Scottish colonial administrator who was Lieutenant-Governor of British New Guinea, Governor of Lagos Colony, Governor of Newfoundland and Governor of Queensland.

Early life

MacGregor was born in Hillockhead, parish of Towie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, the eldest son of John MacGregor, a crofter, and his wife Agnes, daughter of William Smith of Pitprone. later a teacher at Tillyduke and worked as a farm labourer. in one instance when with the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand (1863–1914) in the Territory of Papua, he translated from a German officer to the Italian cook on instructions to cook a wallaby. 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. Some of this in part related to the annual headhunting raid and cannibalisation of coastal tribes by the Tugeri warriors, which he ended.

Administrator MacGregor was appointed lieutenant-governor on 13 March 1895, and retired from this position on 10 September 1898.

Queensland (1909–1914)

On 2 December 1909 MacGregor was appointed Governor of Queensland.

MacGregor assisted in the inauguration of the University of Queensland, he agreed to the handing over of his residence Old Government House 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. The building (now heritage-listed) at Clifton Street was close and to the west of the general hospital. The Institute had been in existence for several years prior, and the Governor had visited the facility several times prior.

He chaired the inaugural meeting of the Historical Society of Queensland in August 1913 and became its patron.

MacGregor retired in July 1914 from the governorship.

Later life

He married in 1883 to Mary Jane, daughter of Levuka (Fiji) harbourmaster Captain Robert and Annie Cocks; who survived him with one son and three daughters. They met when he was the Administrator of British New Guinea. She was reported to have been the first Caucasian female born in Fiji. Lady MacGregor had nearly lost her life to fever on her first visit to her husband when he was the Governor of the Lagos Colony. and LL.D. Aberdeen, Edinburgh, and Queensland.

In 1914 MacGregor retired and went to live on the estate 'Chapel-on-Leader' (near the River Leader, half-way between Lauder and Earlston, Berwickshire, Scotland). During World War I he was able to do a certain amount of war work, and also lectured on his experience of German rule in the Pacific.

MacGregor found his final year to be 'sorrowful', with the deaths of his son-in-law Admiral Sir Alfred Paget on 17 June 1918 of bronchitis, and Paget's wife and MacGregor's daughter Alpina 'Viti' Paget on 13 September 1918. After an operation for intestinal adhesions and gallstones MacGregor died on 3 July 1919, and Macgregor, Canberra.

References

Further reading

  • R. B. Joyce, Sir William MacGregor (Oxford University Press, 1971)
  • Biography at Government House The Governorship of Newfoundland and Labrador
  • Electric Scotland biography