Lachlan Macquarie

He is considered by historians to have had a crucial influence on the transition of New South Wales from a penal colony to a free settlement and therefore to have played a major role in the shaping of Australian society in the early nineteenth century.

Macquarie orchestrated urban planning in the colony. He had a significant impact on the development of modern Sydney, establishing the layout upon which the modern city centre is based, establishing Hyde Park as Australia's first public park, overseeing the construction of various public buildings along Macquarie Street, and devising the layouts of a number of settlements which today are part of Western Sydney. He also ordered the designing of a street layout for Hobart. A supporter of exploration, Macquarie authorised the 1813 expedition across the Blue Mountains, the first successful British traversal of the region. He ordered the establishment of Bathurst, the first inland British settlement in Australia.

While seeking to promote morality and orderliness, Macquarie favoured the liberal treatment of ex-convicts, known as emancipists, appointing them to prominent government positions and providing generous land grants.

Macquarie expressed a desire for Aboriginal peoples to be treated kindly, and established the first school for Aboriginal children; at the same time, he gave orders that led to the Appin Massacre of Gundungurra and Dharawal people during the Hawkesbury and Nepean Wars.