Hon.
Alexander Macleay MLCThe New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. It sits at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...
FLS
FRSThe Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, or even the Royal, is a learned society for science that was founded in 1660 and is considered by most to be the oldest such society still in existence...
(24 June 1767 – 18 July 1848) was a leading member of the Linnean Society and a fellow of the
Royal SocietyThe Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, or even the Royal, is a learned society for science that was founded in 1660 and is considered by most to be the oldest such society still in existence...
.
Macleay was born on
Ross-shireRoss-shire, or the County of Ross, is a former county of Scotland. The county bordered on Sutherland, Cromartyshire , Inverness-shire and an exclave of Nairnshire. It included most of Ross as well as Lewis in the Outer Hebrides...
,
ScotlandScotland 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...
, eldest son of William Macleay, provost of
Wick-People:* Denis Wick , British orchestral trombonist* Douglas Wick , American movie producer* Gian-Carlo Wick , Italian theoretical physicist* Helmut Wick , German Luftwaffe fighter pilot...
. Alexander had a classical education, went
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
and became a wine merchant. In 1795 he was elected a fellow of the Linnean Society and was also appointed chief clerk in the prisoners of war office. When the office was linked with the
Transport BoardThe Transport Board was the British Royal Navy organisation responsible for the transport of supplies and military. It is also referred to as the Board of Transport and Transport Office....
after war broke out, Macleay became head of the correspondence department and by 1806 secretary. The Board was abolished in 1815 and Macleay retired on an annual pension of £750.
Macleay's chief natural history interest was
entomologyEntomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of arthropodology...
and he had the finest and most extensive collection then existing of any private individual in England. This included the British Collection of
John CurtisJohn Curtis was an English entomologist and illustrator. He was born in Norwich and learned his engraving skills in the workshop of his father, Charles Morgan Curtis.Charles Curtis died young and his widow, Frances, became a flower grower.She encouraged her son to study natural history with a...
now housed in
MelbourneMelbourne is the capital city and most populous city of the State of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne city centre is the anchor of the larger geographical area and statistical division known as the Greater Melbourne metropolitan area – of which Melbourne is...
,
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
.
James Francis StephensJames Francis Stephens was an English entomologist.-Biography:Stephens was born in Shoreham-by-Sea and studied at Christ's Hospital. He was employed in the Admiralty office, Somerset House, from 1807 to 1845...
referred to Alexander Macleay as "my friend" and talks about his philosophical views on insect structure and arrangement. This is a euphemistic reference to Macleay's curious
quinary systemThe Quinarian system was a method of zoological classification which had a brief period of popularity in the mid 19th century, especially among British naturalists. It was largely developed by the entomologist W. S. MacLeay in 1819. The system was followed by Nicholas Aylward Vigors and William...
, a classication schema based on the number 5.
In 1813, he was elected a foreign member of the
Royal Swedish Academy of SciencesThe Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences or Kungliga Vetenskapsakademin is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. The Academy is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization which acts to promote the sciences, primarily the natural sciences and mathematics.The Academy was founded on 2 June...
.
On 14 June 1825, Macleay was appointed Colonial Secretary for
New South WalesNew South Wales is Australia's most populous state, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria, south of Queensland and east of South Australia...
and brought his collection and family with him to Australia
http://www.usyd.edu.au/museums/about/macleay.shtml arriving in January 1826. He was soon working twelve hour days and in July 1826 was made a member of the Executive and Legislative Councils.
His extensive entomological collections formed the basis of the
Macleay MuseumThe Macleay Museum, devoted to the history of science, is located on the main campus of the University of Sydney, Australia.The collections of the Macleay Museum are based largely on the efforts and acquisitions of the Macleays, one of the pre-eminent families in colonial Sydney: Alexander Macleay,...
at the
University of SydneyThe University of Sydney is the oldest university in Australia. It was established in Sydney in 1850. It is a member of Australia's "Group of Eight" universities that are highly ranked in terms of their research performance...
.
He was also very active beyond his scientific pursuits and was the foundation president of the
Australian ClubThe Australian Club is a private club founded in 1838 and located in Sydney at 165 Macquarie Street. Its membership is men-only and it's the oldest gentlemen's club in the southern hemisphere...
.
He was the father of the entomologist
William Sharp MacleayWilliam Sharp Macleay FRS, was a British entomologist.-Early life:Macleay was born in London, eldest son of Alexander Macleay. He attended Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge graduating with honours in 1814...
who expanded his father's collection and of
George MacleaySir George Macleay KCMG, was an Australian explorer and politician.Macleay was born in London, the third son of Alexander Macleay and educated at Westminster School. He came to Australia in 1826....
, also a zoologist. Sir
William John MacleaySir William John Macleay . was an Australian politician, zoologist and naturalist.-Early life:Macleay was born at Wick, Caithness, Scotland, second son of Kenneth Macleay of Keiss and his wife Barbara, née Horne...
was his nephew.
His daughter Rosa Roberta married Arthur Pooley Onslow; her children included Arthur Alexander Walton Onslow and Sir Alexander Onslow.