This walk will help you imagine early nineteenth-century Sydney Town. At the edges of Empire the penal colony was riven by conflicts and Colonel Macquarie was tasked with bringing order. His methods were unusual: races, feasts, fairs, rum monopolies. His egalitarian vision was radical: “reward merit, punish vice”. But there’s a dark side to Governor Macquarie’s colonial work. First Nations suffered. We’ll bring a morning tea and enjoy it in the Botanic Gardens. The walk is 3 hours and requires a reasonable level of fitness plus a hardy attitude to whatever the weather dishes up. Meet at Circular Quay, in front of Wharf 6 (wharf closest to MCA) 10 minutes before the tour starts so it can commence on time.
This walk will go ahead whatever the weather, except where the guide deems there to be a threat to health and safety. In this situation you will be contacted with an alternative date. Please ensure your mobile phone number is up-to-date with WEA before enrolling and make sure you take it with you on the day in case the tutor needs to contact you.
- Slattery, Luke. The First Dismissal (2014 Penguin Specials)
- Kieza, Grantlee. Macquarie (2019 ABC Books)
- Karskens, Grace. The Colony: a history of early Sydney (2009 Allen & Unwin)
- Ritchie, John. Lachlan Macquarie: a biography (1986 Melbourne University Press)
- Lachlan Macquarie’s life, convicts, emancipists, free settlers, the military, First Nations
- Roads & town planning, old Government House, the Rum Hospital
- Hyde Park Barracks, St. James church and Francis Greenway, the Appin massacre
By the end of this course, students should be able to:
- Support a healthy lifestyle by walking
- Gain background to heritage items on the walk
- Understand Lachlan Macquarie's legacy
