The only other officers worth noting are Captain Paterson, who had been an
African traveller, and had written a book on his travels, and Lieutenant
MacArthur, whose name has already been mentioned in the chapter on Hunter,
and will reappear to some purpose later on. The last thing MacArthur did
before leaving England for New South Wales was to fight a duel. The
_Morning Post_ of December 2nd, 1789, tells how in consequence of a
dispute between Mr. Gilbert, the master of the transport _Neptune_, and
Lieutenant MacArthur, of the Botany Bay Rangers, the two landed at the old
gun wharf near the lines, Plymouth, and, attended by seconds, exchanged
shots twice. The seconds then interposed, and the business was settled by
MacArthur declaring that Captain Gilbert's conduct was in every respect
that of a gentleman and a man of honour, and in the evening he repeated
the same expressions on the quarterdeck of the _Neptune_ to the
satisfaction of all parties. The quarrel originated in the refusal of
Gilbert to admit MacArthur to his private mess-table, although he offered
the soldier every other accommodation for himself and wife and family. The
Government settled the affair by appointing a new master to the _Neptune_
and allowing MacArthur to exchange to another transport.
The corps was raised in the fashion of the time. Grose received a letter
of service:--
"Yourself and the three captains now to be appointed by His
Majesty will each be required to raise a complete company (viz.,
three sergeants, three corporals, two drummers, and sixty-seven
private men), in aid of the expenses of which you will be allowed
to name the lieutenant and ensign of your respective companies,
and to receive from the public three guineas for every recruit
approved at the headquarters of the corps by a general or field
officer appointed for the purpose."
Grose made what he could by the privilege of nominating and by any
difference there was between the price he paid for recruits and the public
money he was paid for them; this sort of business was common enough in
those days. Later on he received permission to raise two hundred more men,
and a second major, who paid £200 for his commission, was appointed. Such
men of the old marine force as chose to accept their discharge in New
South Wales were allowed that privilege, and were given a land grant to
induce them to become settlers, and these men were, on the arrival of the
New South Wales Corps, formed into an auxiliary company under the command
of Captain-Lieutenant George Johnson, who had been a marine officer in the
first fleet, and who, like MacArthur, was later on to make a chapter of
history. The regiment at its maximum strength formed ten companies,
numbering 886 non-coms, and privates.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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