MacGregor, William (1846 - 1919)

Summary

William MacGregor spent most of his career in the British colonial service, initially as medical officer and later as administrator and Governor. He was Chief Medical Officer in Fiji for 13 years before becoming Administrator (and later Lieutenant Governor) of British New Guinea in 1888. In this, and his other postings, his administration was notable for its enlightened treatment of indigenous peoples. While in New Guinea he made several journeys through unexplored regions and made significant collections of ethnographic material. Most of this material was deposited in the Queensland Museum and ultimately repatriated to Papua New Guinea's National Museum and Art Gallery. MacGregor also supported the endeavours of scientists who visited New Guinea during his tenure. His collections included natural history specimens, particularly birds and plants. The latter was sent to the Victorian Government Botanist, Ferdinand von Mueller, for identification. MacGregor was Governor of Queensland from 1909 to 1914, and the first Chancellor f the University of Queensland.

Details

Chronology

1872

Education - MB CM, University of Aberdeen

1873

Career position - Assistant Medical Officer, Seychelles

1874

Education - MD, University of Aberdeen

1874

Career position - Resident medical officer and superintendent of the lunatic asylum, Mauritius

1875 - 1888

Career position - Chief Medical Officer (later Colonial Secretary), Fiji

1881

Award - Commander of the Order of St Michael and St John (CMG)

1888 - 1895

Career position - Administrator, British New Guinea

1889

Award - Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St John (KCMG)

1895 - 1897

Career position - Lieutenant Governor, British New Guinea

1896

Award - Founders Medal, Royal Geographical Society

1897

Award - Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB)

1898 - 1902

Career position - Governor of Lagos

December 1902 - July 1914

Career position - Governor of Queensland

1904

Career position - Governor of Newfoundland

1907

Award - Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG)

1908 - 1909

Career position - President, Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, Queensland

1910

Award - Mary Kingsley Medal. Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine

1910 - 1915

Career position - Inaugural Chancellor, University of Queensland

1910 - 1918

Career position - Patron, Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, Queensland

1913 -

Career position - Patron, Historical Society of Queensland

1914 - 1919

Career position - Privy Councillor

Related entries

Published resources

Books

• Anon, Catalogue of specimens deposited by Sir William MacGregor in the Anthropological Museum, Marischal College, University of Aberdeen, 1899 - 1909 (Aberdeen: University of Aberdeen Press, 1912), 23 pp. Details
• Joyce, R. B., Sir William MacGregor (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1971), 484 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Joyce, R. B., 'MacGregor, Sir William (1846 - 1919), medical practitioner and colonial administrator' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 5: 1851 - 1890 K-Q, Nairn, Bede, Serle, Geoffrey and Ward, Russell, eds (Carlton, Vic.: Melbourne University Press, 1974), pp. 158-60. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/macgregor-sir-william-4097. Details
• Quinnell, Michael, '"Before it has become too late": the making and repatriation of Sir William MacGregor's official collection from British new Guinea' in Hunting the gatherers: ethnographic collectors, agents and agency in Melanesia, 1870s - 1930s, O'Hanlon, Michael and Welsch, Robert Louis, eds (Berghahn Books, 2000), pp. 81-102. Details

Conference Papers

• Hawley, T. G., 'William MacGregor, CB MD (1846-1919)', in New Countries and Old Medicine: Proceedings of an International Conference on the History of Medicine and Health, Auckland, New Zealand, 1994 edited by Linda Bryder and Derek Dow (Auckland: Pyramid Press, 1994), pp. 173-177.. Details

Journal Articles

• Cameron, J. B., 'Dr William MacGregor's ascent of Mount Owen Stanley', Transactions and proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, Victorian Branch, 7 (1) (1889), 58-66. Details
• Loughnan, Terence E.; and Bale, Sereima D., 'Sir William MacGregor and the earliest recorded general anaesthetic administered in Fiji, 1876', Anaesthesia and intensive care, 49 (1S) (2021), 51-5. https://doi.org/10.1177/0310057X211034518. Details
• MacGregor, William, 'Journey to the summit of the Owen Stanley Range, New Guinea', Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and monthly record of geography, 12 (4) (1890), 193-223. Details
• Mueller, F. von, 'Record of observation on Sir William MacGregor's highland-plants from New Guinea', Transactions of the Royal Society of Victoria, 1 (2) (1889), 1-45. Details
• Mueller, F. von, 'Some scientific results of Sir William MacGregor's recent expedition to the Owen-Stanley Range', Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, ns, 12 (1890), 103-10. Details
• Mueller, Ferdinand von, 'Records of observations on Sir William MacGregor's highland plants from New Guinea', Transactions of the Royal Society of Victoria, new series, 1 (2) (1889), 1-45. Details
• Pearn, J. H., 'Doctor Governor, Sir William MacGregor - and the Queensland Medical School', Medical Journal of Australia, 153 (11-12) (1990), 708-711. Details
• Reid, R. W., 'Sir William MacGregor', Aberdeen University review, 7 (1919), 1-14. Details
• Torrence, Robin; Bonshek, Elizabeth; Clarke, Anne; Davies, Susan M.; Philp, Jude; and Quinnell, Michael, 'Regimes of value in museum practices: a networked biography of the MacGregor field collection from British New Guinea', Museum history journal, 13 (2) (2020), 111-31. https://doi.org/10.1080/19369816.2020.1807122. Details

See also

• Van Steenis-Kruseman, M. J., Malaysian plant collectors and collections: being a cyclopaedia of botanical exploration in Malaysia and a guide to the concerned literature up to the year 1950 (Djakarta: Noordhoff-Kolff NV, 1950), clii, 639 pp. Details