Sir Robert Ramsey Mackenzie

Robert Ramsey Mackenzie arrived in Australia from Scotland in 1832, unaware of the role he would play in shaping the town of Tenterfield, or his political involvement with the states of New South Wales and Queensland.

In 1842, he was granted the first official grazier licence for land that would later become know as Tenterfield Station. Robert lived and worked on the land until 1844, when Stuart Donaldson, a London Merchant, took over. It was Stuart that named the property Tenterfield, after his aunt’s home near Haddington in Scotland.

Robert moved to Queensland and in 1859, on separation of the state, became Queensland’s first Colonial Treasurer. He went on to become Premier of Queensland from 1867-1868. In 1868, he succeeded to the Baronetcy of Coul, his birthplace, and returned to Scotland in 1871. He died in Scotland two years later in 1873. The Western QLD town of Aramac was named after him (“R. R. Mac”).

Read about more of Tenterfield’s notable residents.