Macquarie Harbour

Macquarie Harbour is a large, shallow, inlet, located in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia. The inlet is navigable by shallow draft vessels. The main channel is kept clear by the presence of a rock wall on the outside of the channels curve. This man made wall prevents erosion and keeps the channel deep and narrow, rather than allowing the channel to become wide and shallow.The harbour is named in honour of Scottish Major General Lachlan Macquarie, the fifth Colonial Governor of New South Wales.HistoryJames Kelly wrote in his narrative "First Discovery of Port Davey and Macquarie Harbour" how he sailed from Hobart in a small open five-oared whaleboat to discover Macquarie Harbour on 28 December 1815.However, different accounts of the journey have indicated different methods and dates of the discovery. In the commentary to the Historical Records of Australia, the editor notes that T.W. Birch stated before the commission of inquiry into the state of the colony in 1820 that Kelly had discovered Macquarie Harbour after proceeding along in a boat from Port Davey where they had travelled in the schooner Henrietta Packet. Kelly gave evidence before the commission, and did not mention any discoveries. In a letter dated 11 April 1816, preserved in the record office, London, T.W. Birch transmitted an account of this voyage, which records the discovery of Macquarie Harbour on 26 December 1815.Charles Whitham notes variations on the date.