Arthur Macalister

Arthur Macalister, (18 January 1818 – 23 March 1883) was three times Premier of Queensland, Australia.

Early life Macalister was born in Glasgow, Scotland, son of John Macalister, a cabinet maker, and his wife Mary, née Scoullar. Macalister was educated in Glasgow and emigrated to Australia with his wife Elizabeth Wallace née Tassie. They arrived in Sydney on 28 September 1839 on the Abbotsford.

Macalister was appointed to the positions of clerk of Petty Sessions and postmaster at Scone, New South Wales in June 1840. In 1846 he was working for a solicitor in Sydney. In 1850 he was admitted as a solicitor and attorney.

Macalister lost his seat in June 1871 but was re-elected for Ipswich in 1872 in a by-election.

The Macalister Range along the Far North Queensland coast between Cairns and Port Douglas was named in honour of the Premier by George Augustus Frederick Elphinstone Dalrymple during the 1873 ‘Queensland North-East Coast Expedition. The range name is also used for a locality in Far North Queensland and Macalister Range National Park.

The township of Macalister on the Western Darling Downs was named after him.