The 'Macquarie' chair is undeniably the most important example of early colonial furniture in the Powerhouse collection. Fortuitously it is also a chair we know much about. One of a pair made for Lachlan Macquarie, Governor of New South Wales 1810-1822, and his wife Elizabeth, it was crafted by convicts in 1820-21. The companion chair is in the collection of Macquarie University. A third, similarly-styled, gothic revival armchair is in St James Church, Sydney; it is the plaque on this chair identifying its makers as John Webster and William Temple that has enabled the attribution of the two Macquarie chairs.
Made of Australian rose mahogany, a NSW timber felled extensively during the Macquarie period, red cedar, Casuarina and with replacement wallaby fur upholstery, the chair bears the Macquarie crest of a raised dagger as its central finial and was crafted by convicts William Temple (1779-1839) and John Webster (1798-1842). Temple, a 'carpenter and joiner', was transported to NSW in 1813 and worked in the government lumber yard in Sydney and with the cabinetmaker Lawrence Butler (1750?-1820). Temple was granted a conditional pardon by Macquarie in November 1821 having worked for Macquarie at Government House. John Webster, a 'carver and gilder' was transported to NSW, arriving on 7 August 1820. Governor Macquarie must have set him to work on the carving of the chairs soon after he arrived in the colony, for they were completed by the time the Macquaries returned to Scotland in early 1822. Webster was also granted a conditional pardon in November 1821. It is possible that both pardons were associated with the completion of the chairs. The chairs may in fact be the '2 large armchairs' listed in an inventory of the contents of Government House, Sydney in March 1821.
With their carved Gothic detail and formal vice-regal proportions the chairs were probably made for the Macquaries' official rather than personal use. Their taste for the Gothic style, fashionable in late 18th -century England, is reflected in a number of buildings the Macquaries erected including the Government House stables (now the NSW Conservatorium of Music). The relatively sophisticated styling of the chairs may also indicate the reference by Webster and Temple to George Smith's 'A collection of designs for household furniture and interior decoration', a highly influential pattern book published in England in 1808. Smith's publication shows several chairs with Gothic detailing similar to the Macquarie armchairs.
Both chairs have also shared a well-travelled past. When the Macquaries returned to the Isle of Mull, Scotland, in February 1822 they took the chairs with them. Through the Macquaries' son, Lachlan, they passed, by descent, to Rowland and Archibald Macquarie who emigrated to Canada in the 1890s with the chairs. The Powerhouse chair was loaned to the Vancouver Museum by a 'Mrs R Macquarrie [sic]' about 1937 but, after lengthy negotiations, was donated to the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (now the Powerhouse Museum) in 1961. Almost 140 years after it had left Australia the chair's final resting place was the city of its origin!
Anne Watson
William Temple, cabinet maker (1779-1839), was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment at Lincoln, England in March 1813. He arrived at Sydney on the "General Hewitt" on Feb 1814. Worked for Gov Macquarie for 1 1/2 years at Government House. Was granted a pardon by Macquarie in Nov 1821. In the 1828 Census he was listed as a carpenter residing in Parramatta.
John Webster (1798-1842) was convicted at the Old Bailey in Oct 1819 and sentenced to 14 years transportation. He arrived at Sydney on the "Mangles" in Aug 1820. He was also pardoned by Gov Macquarie in Nov 1821. In the 1828 Census he was described as "Carver & Guilder" at Castlereagh St.
Made for Major-General Macquarie in 1821. (Governor Lachlan Macquarie, Governor of NSW January 1810 to December 1821)
Possibly commissioned by Gov Macquarie for the drawing room of Government House. It is assumed that upon his retirement, he took the chair back to his estate on the Island of Mull in Scotland. It then passed through the widow of Gov Macquarie's son, Lachlan Macquarie to Lt Colonel Gardyne. It was given by Col Gardyne to Gov Macquarie's nephew, Captain Charles Macquarie, who himself had 2 sons. One of these sons migrated to Canada, taking this chair with him. His widow placed the chair on loan with the Vancouver City Museum in the 1930s. In 1959 the Vancouver City Museum approached the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences in Sydney. The transfer to MAAS took place in 1961.
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