McLeay, Alexander (1767 - 1848)

Summary

Alexander McLeay was Secretary of the Linnean Society of London 1798-1825, and Colonial Secretary of New South Wales 1825-1836. He remained in Australia until his death and was involved in colonial politics, administration and scientific activities.

Related entries

Archival resources

The Linnean Society of New South Wales

• Alexander Macleay - Records, 1814 - 1837; The Linnean Society of New South Wales. Details

Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales

• Alexander Macleay - Records, c. 1829 - c. 1855, A2974; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
• Alexander Macleay - Records, c. 1798 - c. 1825, Uncatalogued MSS SET 225; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
• Alexander Macleay - Records, c. 1825 - c. 1848, Uncatalogued MSS SET 380; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
• Gold Family - Records, 1827, ML MSS 846; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
• Linnean Society of London - Records, 1792 - 1870, FM 4/2699; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
• Linnean Society of New South Wales - Records, 1826 - 1970, ML MSS 2009; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details

State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection

• Linnean Society of London - Records, 1790 - 1870, M596-597; State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection. Details

Published resources

Books

• Cherry, Derelie, Alexander Macleay : from Scotland to Sydney (Kulnura, N.S.W.: Paradise Publishers, 2012), 452 pp. Details
• Donaldson, James, Colonial mandarin: the life and times of Alexander Macleay (London: Austin Macauley Publishers, 2017), 367 pp. Details
• Gilbert, Lionel, Mr McLeay's Elizabeth Bay Garden: Plants, Privilege and Power in Sydney's Early Scientific Community (Canberra: Mulini Press, 2000), 75 pp. Details
• Musgrave, A., Bibliography of Australian entomology, 1775-1930: with biographical notes on authors and collectors (Sydney: Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, 1932), 380 pp. Details
• Stacey, Robyn and Hay, Ashley, Museum: the MacLeays, their Collection and the Search for Order (Sydney: Cambridge University Press, 2007), 196 pp. Details

Book Sections

• 'McLeay, Alexander (1767-1848), public servant and entomologist' in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Douglas Pike, ed., vol. 2 (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1967), pp. 177-180. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A020156b.htm. Details
• Fulton, G. R., 'Alexander, William Sharp, and William John Macleay: their Ornithology and Museum' in Contributions to the History of Australasian Ornithology, volume 2, Davis, William E., Recher, Harry F. and Boles, Walter E., eds (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Nuttall Ornithological Club, 2012), pp. 327-93. Details
• Horning, D. S., 'The history and significance of the Macleay insect collection' in Some sources for the history of Australian science: six papers presented at a workshop on the history of science in Australia, Borchardt, D. L., ed. (Kensington, N.S.W.: History Project Incorporated, 1983), pp. 23-32. Details

Edited Books

• Stanbury, Peter and Holland, Julian eds, Mr Macleay's celebrated cabinet: the history of the Macleays and their museum (Sydney: Macleay Museum, University of Sydney, 1988), 170 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Fletcher, J.J., 'The Society's Heritage from the Macleays', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 45 (1920), 592-629. Details
• Fletcher, J.J., 'The Society's Heritage From the Macleays. Part ii', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, liv (1929), 185-272. Details
• Gibson, Susannah, 'The careering naturalists: creating career paths in natural history, 1790 - 1830', Archives of Natural History, 44 (2) (2017), 195-214. Details
• Horning, D. S., 'The Macleay insect collection', Antenna: bulletin of the Royal Entomoogical Society of London, 8 (4) (1984), 172-5. Details
• Leeuwen, Michael Van, 'This Plan of a Museum: Alexander Macleay's Proposal for the Australian Museum', Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society, 78 (3-4) (1992), 39-51. Details
• Strahan, Ronald, 'The Dog that Did Not Bark: Alexander Macleay and the Australian Museum', Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society, 75 (3) (1989), 224-229. Details

Resources

• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/33207010. Details
• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q2833165. Details
• 'Macleay, Alexander (1767-1848)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-623040. Details

Reviews

• Cherry, Derelie, Alexander Macleay : from Scotland to Sydney (2012)
  Holland, Julian, Historical Records of Australian Science, 23 (2), (2012), 233-4, https://doi.org/10.1071/HR12014. Details
• Cherry, Derelie, Alexander Macleay : from Scotland to Sydney (2012)
  Ventress, Alan, Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society, 99, (2013), 101-3. Details

See also

• Coleman, Deidre; and Blackburn, Robert, 'Eighteenth-century West African insects in the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney', Archives of Natural History, 44 (2) (2018), 356-62. Details
• Serle, Percival, Dictionary of Australian biography (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1949). Details
• Windshuttle, Elizabeth, Taste and science : the women of the Macleay family, 1790-1850 ( Glebe, N.S.W.: Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales, 1988), 96 pp. Details