Zachary Macaulay
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Zachary Macaulay (; 2 May 1768 – 13 May 1838) was a Scottish statistician and abolitionist who was a founder of
London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...
and of the Society for the Suppression of Vice, and a Governor of British Sierra Leone.


Early life

Macaulay was born in Inveraray, Scotland, to Margaret Campbell and John Macaulay (1720 – 1789), who was a minister of the
Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...
and a grandson of Dòmhnall Cam. He had two brothers: Aulay Macaulay, who was an antiquary, and
Colin Macaulay Colin Macaulay (13 April 1760 – 20 February 1836), was a Scottish general, biblical scholar and Abolitionism in the United Kingdom, key activist in the campaign to abolish slavery. Early life Macaulay was a son of the Rev. John Macaulay (1720 ...
, who was a general and an
abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...
. Zachary Macaulay was not educated in, but taught himself, Greek and Latin and English literature.


Career

Macaulay worked in a merchant's office in
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
, where he fell into bad company and began to indulge in excessive drinking. In late 1784, when aged 16, he emigrated to
Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
. There, he worked as an assistant manager at a sugar plantation. However, he objected to slavery, contrary to the preference of his father, and renounced his job. He returned, in 1789, to London, where he reduced his alcoholism and became a bookkeeper. He was influenced by Thomas Babington of Rothley Temple, Leicestershire, an evangelical Whig abolitionist whom his sister Jean had married, and by whom he was influenced and introduced to
William Wilberforce William Wilberforce (24 August 1759 – 29 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist, and a leader of the movement to abolish the Atlantic slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780 ...
and Henry Thornton. In 1790, Macaulay visited
Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...
, the
West African West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Ma ...
colony that was founded by the Sierra Leone Company for emancipated slaves. In 1792, he returned to serve on its Council. He was invested as Governor in 1794, and remained in that role until 1799. Macaulay became a member of the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, with
William Wilberforce William Wilberforce (24 August 1759 – 29 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist, and a leader of the movement to abolish the Atlantic slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780 ...
, to campaign for the abolition of slavery in the British Empire. He later became the secretary of the African Institution. He and Wilberforce also became members of the
Clapham Sect The Clapham Sect, or Clapham Saints, were a group of social reformers associated with Holy Trinity Clapham in the period from the 1780s to the 1840s. Despite the label "sect", most members remained in the Established Church, established (and do ...
of evangelical Whigs, that included Henry Thornton and Edward Eliot, for whom he edited the magazine, the '' Christian Observer'', from 1802 to 1816. Macaulay served on committees that established
London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...
, and that established the Society for the Suppression of Vice. He was also a fellow of the
Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
, and an active supporter of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and of the Cheap Repository Tracts, and of the Church Missionary Society. Macaulay contributed to the 1823 foundation of the Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery, and he was editor of its publication, the '' Anti-Slavery Reporter'', in which he censured the analysis of indentured labour by the British Colonial Office expert Thomas Moody However, Zachary Macaulay desired a 'free black peasantry' rather than equality for Africans. Macaulay died on 13 May 1838 in London, where he was buried in St George's Gardens,
Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...
, and where a memorial to him was erected in
Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...
. Stanley, A.P., ''Historical Memorials of Westminster Abbey'' (
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
; John Murray;
1882 Events January * January 2 ** The Standard Oil Trust is secretly created in the United States to control multiple corporations set up by John D. Rockefeller and his associates. ** Irish-born author Oscar Wilde arrives in New York at the ...
), p. 248.


Personal life

Macaulay married Selina Mills, who was the daughter of the Quaker printer Thomas Mills. They were introduced by
Hannah More Hannah More (2 February 1745 – 7 September 1833) was an English religious writer, philanthropist, poet, and playwright in the circle of Johnson, Reynolds and Garrick, who wrote on moral and religious subjects. Born in Bristol, she taught at ...
on 26 August 1799. They settled in
Clapham Clapham () is a district in south London, south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (including Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Ea ...
, Surrey, and had several children including
Thomas Babington Macaulay Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay, (; 25 October 1800 – 28 December 1859) was an English historian, poet, and Whig politician, who served as the Secretary at War between 1839 and 1841, and as the Paymaster General between 184 ...
, who was a Whig historian and politician, and Hannah More Macaulay (1810 – 1873), who married
Sir Charles Trevelyan, 1st Baronet Sir Charles Edward Trevelyan, 1st Baronet, (2 April 1807 – 19 June 1886) was an English people, English civil servant and British Empire, colonial administrator. As a young man, he worked with the colonial government in Kolkata, Calcutta, In ...
and was the mother of
Sir George Trevelyan, 2nd Baronet Sir George Otto Trevelyan, 2nd Baronet, (20 July 1838 – 17 August 1928) was a British statesman and author. In a ministerial career stretching almost 30 years, he was most notably twice Secretary for Scotland under William Ewart Gladstone and ...
.


Further reading

*Carey, Brycchan. ''British Abolitionism and the Rhetoric of Sensibility: Writing, Sentiment, and Slavery, 1760–1807'' (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005) *Hall, Catherine. ''Macaulay and Son: Architects of Imperial Britain'' (Yale UP, 2013) *Hochschild, Adam. ''Bury the Chains, The British Struggle to Abolish Slavery'' (Basingstoke: Pan Macmillan, 2005) * *Oldfield, J.R. ''Thomas Macaulay'' in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford: University Press, 2006) * *Stott, Anne. ''Hannah More – The First Victorian'' (Oxford: University Press, 2003) *Whyte, I. ''Zachary Macaulay 1768–1838: The Steadfast Scot in the British Anti-Slavery Movement.'' (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2011). .


References


External links

* Article Macaulay, Zachary (and Macaulay, Aulay) in the Dictionary of Scottish Church History and Theology (Edinburgh, 1993)
Negro slavery
By Zachary Macaulay. Published in 1824. Cornell University Library Samuel J. May Anti-Slavery Collection.
Cornell University Library Digital Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macaulay, Zachary 1768 births 1838 deaths People from Inveraray Zachary Clapham Sect Editors of Christian publications Fellows of the Royal Society Scottish abolitionists Scottish philanthropists Scottish politicians Governors of Sierra Leone University and college founders Scottish colonial officials Scottish Episcopalians Committee members of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge