Sir Patrick Lindesay, (24 February 1778 – 14 March 1839) was a Scottish military officer during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

and

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

but is most noted as having served as Acting Governor of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia in 1831.

Mount Lindesay (Queensland) Mount Lindesay is a rural locality in the Scenic Rim Region, Queensland, Australia. It borders New South Wales. In the , Mount Lindesay had a population of 3 people. The mountain of the same name (height is on the south-west boundary of the lo ...

, Mount Lindesay (New South Wales) , and Lindesay River in Australia are all named after him.

Life

He was born in Musselburgh, East Lothian,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, the son of Lt. Col. John Lindesay. He was educated at

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted ...

and in 1793 joined the army as an

Ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

. He was thereafter gazetted as a lieutenant in the famed 78th (Highlanders) Regiment of Foot. He was promoted to Captain in September 1795. He moved to the

39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot The 39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1702. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 54th (West Norfolk) Regiment of Foot to form the Dorsetshire Regiment in 1881. History Earl ...

in October 1796 and was there promoted to Major in 1807. He then saw considerable action in Spain and Portugal during the

. In 1811 he saw his most major action and received a medal for his actions in the

Battle of Albuera The Battle of Albuera (16 May 1811) was a battle during the Peninsular War. A mixed British, Spanish and Portuguese corps engaged elements of the French Armée du Midi (Army of the South) at the small Spanish village of Albuera, about south ...

. In 1814, his obituary states, he had a "final brush" with the Americans in the final battles between these countries. From 1824 to 1826 he served in the

First Anglo-Burmese War The First Anglo-Burmese War ( my, ပထမ အင်္ဂလိပ်-မြန်မာ စစ်; ; 5 March 1824 – 24 February 1826), also known as the First Burma War, was the first of three wars fought between the British and Burmes ...

, commanding a division of the Expeditionary Army.

Australia

In November 1827, aged 49, he arrived in Sydney, Australia to succeed Col. William Stewart in the command of the garrison at

Port Jackson Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea ...

. He became a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council in 1827, and when the post of lieutenant-governor was abolished he took over the required duties of the post. From April 1829 he was a member of the Executive Council. After the controversial departure of the governor

Sir Ralph Darling General Sir Ralph Darling, GCH (1772 – 2 April 1858) was a British Army officer who served as Governor of New South Wales from 1825 to 1831. He is popularly described as a tyrant, accused of torturing prisoners and banning theatrical entertai ...

on 22 October 1831, Lindesay filled the role of Acting

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

until the appointment of Sir Richard Bourke as governor on 2 December 1831. During this period he permitted one of the Captains in his Regiment, Captain

Charles Sturt Charles Napier Sturt (28 April 1795 – 16 June 1869) was a British officer and explorer of Australia, and part of the European exploration of Australia. He led several expeditions into the interior of the continent, starting from Sydney and la ...

to take a leave of absence to explore the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest ...

. On Sturt's return, he brought many bird skins which were then delivered by Lindesay to the Edinburgh Museum. A later donation to Prof.

Robert Jameson Robert Jameson Robert Jameson FRS FRSE (11 July 1774 – 19 April 1854) was a Scottish naturalist and mineralogist. As Regius Professor of Natural History at the University of Edinburgh for fifty years, developing his predecessor John ...

caused Jameson to state that Lindesay was "a distinguished officer and a very active naturalist". Sturt later named a tributary of the Murray River the Lindesay River, in gratitude to his commanding officer. The explorer Allan Cunningham later named a mountain on the border of New South Wales, in the

McPherson Range The McPherson Range is an extensive mountain range, a spur of the Great Dividing Range, heading in an easterly direction from near Wallangarra to the Pacific Ocean coastline. It forms part of the Scenic Rim on the border between the states of N ...

, "Mount Lindesay" but this was later (c.1840) renamed Mount Barney. The name Mount Lindesay was then used to replace a mountain previously named "Mount Hooker" just north within Queensland. A second Mount Lindesay (New South Wales) was later named by Sir Thomas Mitchell, attaching to a dominant mountain in the

Nandewar Range The Nandewar Range, a mountain range that is part of the Great Dividing Range, is located in the North West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia. The range is situated approximately east of the township of Narrabri. John Oxley was the ...

Late-life

In 1832 he was dispatched to India to command the garrisons at

Bangalore Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...

. After the surrender of

Mercara Madikeri is a hill station town in Madikeri taluk and headquarters of Kodagu district in Karnataka, India. Etymology Madikeri was known as ''Muddu Raja Keri'', which meant Mudduraja's town, was named after the prominent Haleri king Muddu ...

, he received a bounty of £10,000. He then commanded the entire British forces in southern Madras until late 1835. He returned to Britain in 1836 and was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath and Military Knight Commander of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order. He was promoted to the rank of Major General on 10 January 1837. He is interred in St. Michael's Churchyard in

Inveresk Inveresk (Gaelic: ''Inbhir Easg'') is a village in East Lothian, Scotland situated to the south of Musselburgh. It has been designated a conservation area since 1969. It is situated on slightly elevated ground on the north bank of a loop o ...

west of the main church in the older section. His grave in 2014 was wholly obscured by two yew trees.

References

External links

Colonial Secretary's papers 1822-1877
State Library of Queensland- includes digitised letters written to Lindesay when he was Acting Governor of New South Wales {{DEFAULTSORT:Lindesay, Patrick 1778 births 1839 deaths Acting governors of New South Wales British Army major generals People from Musselburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh British military personnel of the First Anglo-Burmese War British Army personnel of the War of 1812 British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars 78th Highlanders officers 39th Regiment of Foot officers Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Lieutenant-Governors of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council