Peter McIntyre

Peter MacIntyre (1783 – 13 January 1842), sometimes referred to as Peter McIntyre, was a Scottish born colonist of New South Wales. He is credited as being one of the main pioneers of British colonisation in the Upper Hunter and New England regions.

Early life MacIntyre was born in Perthshire, Scotland, in 1783 to Donald (Daniel) and Mary MacIntyre. He became a highly regarded agriculturalist and farm manager, winning many prizes for farming, and was employed to manager the estates of the aristocrat, Baron Gwydyr.

Agent for Thomas Potter MacQueen In 1824, MacIntyre was appointed as the chief agent for Thomas Potter Macqueen, an influential Anglo-Scottish Member of Parliament who had received from the Colonial Secretary, Earl Bathurst, a free grant of 20,000 acres (8100 ha) in the colony of New South Wales. MacQueen chartered the vessels Nimrod and the Hugh Crawford, filled them with servants, livestock, and supplies, and placed them under the control of MacInytre. The ships reached Sydney in April 1825, and MacIntyre, after inspecting the best lands available, chose a locale for the uptake of the massive grant on the banks of the Pages River, east of modern-day Scone.

Segenhoe and Blairmore MacQueen's land acquisition was named Segenhoe after his family's estate in Bedfordshire, and MacIntyre was placed in charge. Segenhoe initially consisted of 27 employees, flocks of Saxon and Merino sheep and valuable Shorthorn cattle. While MacIntyre was establishing Segenhoe, he also lost no time in furthering his own interests by requesting and receiving other grants of land in Hunter region for himself and his brothers. MacIntyre was granted 2000 acres of prime land along Dart Brook, which he successfully fought a legal battle over its ownership against the surveyor of the area, Henry Dangar, who wanted the land for himself. MacIntyre called his property Blairmore. He also secured land grants of similar size in the region for his brothers, John and Donald MacIntyre. Donald named his grant Kayuga. Large numbers of Aboriginal people resisted the occupancy of their lands at Byron Plains by spearing the shepherds and taking the livestock belonging to MacIntyre.

Later life and death The severe economic downturn in colonial Australia in the early 1840s took its toll on MacIntyre and he suffered badly from depression. He died in January 1842 at his Pitnacree estate.

Legacy The Macintyre River, Macintyre Brook and several Macintyre creeks are named after him.