page_title: Governor's Body Guard of Light Horse
section_title: Later service
hierarchical_section_title: Governor's Body Guard of Light Horse / Later service
caption_attribution_description: English: Lachlan Macquarie attributed to John Opie (1761-1807) Perhaps of Lachlan's brother Charles.Paintings&#160;: 1 oil Paintings in gilt frame&#160;; 74.3 x 61.6 cm. inside frame; 92 x 80 cm. framed
context_page_description: The Governor's Body Guard of Light Horse was a military unit maintained in the Colony of New South Wales between 1801 and 1834, and reputedly the "first full-time military unit raised in Australia". It was established by Governor Philip Gidley King by drawing men from the New South Wales Corps, the British garrison in the colony. Normally consisting of one or two non-commissioned officers and six privates, the Guard provided an escort to the governor and carried his despatches to outposts across the colony. From 1802, the men of the Guard were drawn from convicts pardoned by King. Men from the unit were deployed during the Castle Hill convict rebellion of 1804 and a trooper of the Guard assisted in the capture of two of the rebel leaders.
  After King was succeeded by William Bligh in 1806, the Guard reverted to being drawn from the New South Wales Corps. The unit seems to have been absent during the Corps' 1808 mutiny against Bligh and, by one report, supported it. It was ordered to disband by the Earl of Liverpool but was granted a reprieve in 1812 by Liverpool's successor Earl Bathurst.
context_section_description: Lachlan Macquarie, dispatched by the British government to assume the office of governor and restore order, arrived in the colony in December 1809. The New South Wales Corps, renamed the 102nd Regiment of Foot, was recalled to Britain and replaced by the 73rd Regiment of Foot which arrived on 1 January 1810. By April of that year the Guard consisted of a sergeant, a corporal and six troopers. One  trooper had survived from King's administration, but the majority were former New South Wales Corps men who had transferred to the 73rd Regiment. At this time the supplementary pay, funded by the colonial government, was 1 shilling 6 pence per day for the sergeant, 1 shilling for the corporal and 6 pence for the troopers. During his term, Macquarie authorised the construction of a brick-built barracks and stables, with capacity for sixteen horses, in Sydney for the Guard.
  Macquarie saw the advantages of the unit in carrying despatches and in providing personal protection to "visit distant Interior parts of the Colony, or penetrate into the Wild Jungles and Forests of it, inhabited by Savages, Who probably Might be induced to take a treacherous Advantage of his Unprotected Situation, Were he to go Amongst them without a Guard". He sought to increase their strength to twelve men but when news of this reached the British Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, the Earl of Liverpool, he refused to grant permission and demanded the unit be disbanded. In 1812, Macquarie requested this decision be rescinded as most other British colonies had a unit of regular or militia cavalry at their disposal; he claimed that he "felt very much hurt" at being "singled out as Undeserving this Honor". Macquarie maintained the unit until it was approved later in 1812 by Liverpool's successor, the Earl Bathurst. Bathurst also sanctioned an increase in size to twelve troopers, plus the sergeant and corporal.
  Despite Bathurst's permission being granted, the unit's nominal strength remained at eight men until the end of Macquarie's tenure in 1821. The unit was kept up to strength with replacements drawn from the British regiment on garrison duty in the colony which, from 1817, was the 48th Regiment of Foot. The Guard's duties at this time included escorting the governor on visits around the colony and announcing guests at the governor's balls. The Guard sergeant from 1808 to 1822 was Charles Whalan who became good friends with Macquarie, accompanying him on personal holidays and being one of the last people to see him off on his return to Britain in 1821.
caption: Governor Macquarie (1762–1824)
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