Macquarie Mausoleum Gruline

                                                                                                           

Macquarie Mausoleum Gruline                   

Macquarie Mausoleum               

Gruline is a small spread out hamlet at the head of Loch na Keal on the narrowest point of Mull. The village of Salen is approximately 2 miles east on Mulls east coast. The Macquarie Mausoleum lies 450 metres

east of the B8035  and the entrance lane to the mausoleum is signposted with a brown sign on a post  and information plaque below. At this point you park your car in the small parking area beside the sign and road and walk up the lane for 500+ metres, as you pass Gruline Home Farm on your right there is a  gate, go through it and then the walled Mausoleum is 30 metres on your left. There is a wrought Iron gate at the far end to enter the grounds. If you are in the area in late May early June there are many varied colour of rhododendron bushes in the surrounding area.Lachlan Maquarie was born in 1761 on the Isle of Ulva approximately 7 miles further north on the Isle of Ulva on the west coast of Mull. In the later stages of life he Lachlan Maquarie was born in 1761 on the Isle of Ulva approximately 7 miles further north on the Isle of Ulva on the west coast of Mull. In the later stages of life he became a well known Colonial character. and described as "The Father of Australia" due to his ground breaking successful time as Governor of New South Wales from 1810 to 1821.

Lachlan joined the military aged 16 serving with his father on active military service and enjoyed a career of over 30 years eventually attaining the rank of major general. After the army he toured North America,Jamaica,Egypt, and lived in India for some time. In Bombay he married a wealthy lady,Jane Jarvis but sadly she died of Tuberculosis a few years after the marriage.Lachlan went back to Mull where he met his second wife Elizabeth Campbell. Thereafter he was offered a position of Governor of New South Wales with orders to quell a rebellion against the former governor,one William Bligh of HMS Bounty and the mutiny fame,and went to Australia in 1809 where he successfully  went about improving moral and the welfare of the people in his area creating a civilized stable country. He was the first person to use the word "Australia" in an 1817 official document. In 1882 he resigned due to ill health and returned home. In 1824 he chose the burial site on the Gruline Estate and died the same year on the first of July 1824. For years the mausoleum site was neglected, however in 1948 it was gifted by the local landowner to the people of New South Wales. The tomb is now protected and cared for by The National trust of Scotland on behalf of The National Trust of Australia,

The Mausoleum is made of sandstone with marble panels at each end where the doors would have been. It holds the remains of Lachlan and Elizabeth and their children Lachlan and Jane. There are many names of places and institutions in Australia named after him today celebrating the high regard in which Australians held him in.