James Macaulay - Early Life

Early Life

James Macaulay, born in September, 1759, was the son of Rev. Mr Macaulay of Glasgow. According to Edward Chadwick's Ontarian Families, 1894, the arms of James Macaulay's family "as shown on an old seal, so much worn as to be difficult to decipher, are apparently: Gu, two arrows in saltire arg, surmounted of a fess chequy of the second and first between three buckles or. Crest: A booted spur. Motto: Dulce Periculum". These directly correspond with the arms of the MacAulays of Ardincaple.

James Macaulay gained a commission into the British army as a surgeon in 1779 and served with the Queen's Rangers throughout the American Revolution. In 1785, he transferred to the Duke of Wellington's Regiment and returned with them to England the following year as they took up duty as the 'King's Guard' at Windsor Castle. In 1789, Macaulay's former commanding officer, John Graves Simcoe, recommended him to the post of surgeon to the New South Wales Regiment, but it is unlikely that he went to Australia. When Simcoe was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada in 1791, he began organizing his staff before he set sail and he chose Macaulay to be his chief surgeon in the new colony. Macaulay accompanied Simcoe to Upper Canada, arriving at the provincial capital, Niagara-on-the-Lake, in 1792.

The Macaulays enjoyed a close relationship with the Simcoes which immediately made them prominent members in local society, aided by the fact that Macaulay's wife had known Elizabeth Simcoe from childhood in England, becoming firm friends in Upper Canada. This closeness drew jealousy from some Canadians, notably the corrupt Provincial Secretary William Jarvis in 1795.