Fine engraved portrait of Alexander Macleay, after the oil painting by Sir Thomas Lawrence commissioned by the Linnean Society and displayed in their prestigious portrait gallery of eminent naturalists at Burlington House, London. Macleay was Secretary of the Society from 1798 until his departure to Australia in 1825.

Fine engraved portrait of Alexander Macleay, after the oil painting by Sir Thomas Lawrence commissioned by the Linnean Society and displayed in their prestigious portrait gallery of eminent naturalists at Burlington House, London. Macleay was Secretary of the Society from 1798 until his departure to Australia in 1825.

Macleay was Colonial Secretary for New South Wales from 1825 to 1837, and became the first speaker of the Legislative Council in 1843. He is best remembered today as a man of science, particularly through the Museum which bears his name at the University of Sydney where his vast natural history collection is housed. By 1825 Macleay 'had accumulated what was probably the finest collection of insects then in existence' (Oxford Dictionary of Biography). During his lifetime he was actively involved in the development of the Sydney Botanical Gardens and the Australian Museum. He built Elizabeth Bay House where he developed a garden renowned for its rare plants. Macleay died in Sydney in July of 1848.