Notable South Australians/Marshall MacDermott, J.P.
Marshall MacDermott, J.P.,
HELD a Commission in 1808 in the 2nd Battalion of the 8th Regiment of Foot stationed at Chester. Anxious to be employed on foreign service, he, in the same year, joined the 1st Battalion of the Regiment at Halifax, Nova Scotia, and embarked with a division of troops under Sir G. Prevost to attack the French Islands of Martinique, Guadaloup, &c., in the West Indies. In this locality some sharp fighting occurred for fully six weeks^ during which Mr. MacDermott had the honor of carrying the King's colours of his regiment, and the additional satisfaction of being present at the surrender by the garrison of Fort Bourbon, Martinique. In 1810, as war with America was imminent, Mr. MacDermott accompanied his regiment to Quebec, and saw no inconsiderable service in that quarter, being severely wounded, but almost miraculously preserved from death. During the campaign the total loss in his regiment alone was 45 officers and over 900 men. He returned to England in 1815, when his regiment relieved the Coldstream Guards at Windsor, and he remained there for two years, when he embarked at Fortsmouth for Malta. During a tour which he made in his leave of absence from the regiment he visited France, Switzerland, and Italy, seeing all places of interest in those countries "famed in song and story," including Mount Vesuvius and the ruins of Herculaneum and Pompeii. Mr. MacDermott thus records his impressions of Mount Vesuvius in 1819, at a period when it was very active:—"From the hermitage, half-way up the mountain, the ascent is very rough, over sharp-pointed heated lava; a stream of which, six feet wide, and four miles long was then flowing, falling over a cliff, and filling a valley beyond. Seen in the dark it was of bright red colour, but in daylight was dull and dark. The crater was nearly a mile in diameter, and threw up large stones and ashes to a great height, accompanied by a fearfully roaring noise. The travellers were enabled to look down towards the bottom of the crater, but from the confusion of flames, gases, and smoke no correct idea cotdd be formed of its depth. … The ascent of the Mount occupies several hours, but the descent on this side is effected with great rapidity. The travellers agreed to attempt it. You step with one foot on deep fine ashes, which slide down with you twenty or thirty feet; you then put down the other foot, sliding down in like manner, and so on alternately until you reach the bottom. The danger consists in overbalancing yourself, when you must roll down some 5,000 or 8,000 feet, but by holding your head and shoulders well back you avoid this." Mr. MacDermott rejoined his regiment at Corfu, Ionian Islands, during the Greek insurrection, and had a lively experience of earthquakes in various towns of the Archipelago. At Argostoli Lord Byron was met, and the record of Mr. MacDermott's impressions with regard to that famous poet are too interesting to be omitted. He says:—"Lord Byron arrived in his yacht from Italy, accompanied by Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Trelawny, Count Gamba, and an Italian medical gentleman. He retained his yacht about three weeks and frequently entertained the officers of the regiment on board, sometimes until late hours. He was very temperate on such occasions, drinking claret and water, or soda water. His conversation was usually full of interest. One evening some one referred to Lord Byron having swam the Hellespont from Sestos to Abydos; but Trelawny made light of it, and challenged Lord Byron to swim with him across the Channel from Cephalonia to Ithaca. The challenge was accepted, but Trelawny drew back. At the end of three weeks Lord Byron discharged his yacht, and took a villa four miles from the town. He usually rode in the afternoon, and took wine at the mess, after which he frequently joined small parties of officers in their rooms to smoke cigars. At this villa Lord Byron received a letter from Lady Byron informing him of the illness of his daughter Ada. He shed tears on that occasion, and appeared deeply affected." On Mr. MacDermott's return to England Lord Byron entrusted him with the manuscript of the last portion of any poem he ever wrote, viz, the last three cantos of "Don Juan," for delivery to Sir John Cam Hobhouse, and he faithfully fulfilled his trust. To follow Mr. MacDermott through all the numerous ups and downs he encountered would far outstrip the bounds we can here accord, suffice it to say that in 1829 he retired from the army after a military service of twenty-two years, purchased a vessel in Sweden, and sailed in her for "Western Australia, arriving there in June 1830. His wife, to whom he had not long been married, accompanied him, and the union proved an exceedingly happy one. In April, 1846, Mr. MacDermott arrived in Adelaide, to assume the charge of the Bank of Australasia, he having been associated with the same institution in Western Australia. It was during his administration of affairs that the "Bullion Act" was introduced, and it, in common with other measures for the public good, received his earnest support. In 1855 he was nominated for a seat in the Legislative Council, and was shortly after elected Chairman of Committees. On the dissolution of the mixed Council Mr. MacDermott was elected for the District of Flinders, in the Assembly, and in 1857 held a portfolio as Commissioner of Crown Lands. In 1859 he was appointed a Special Magistrate under the Local Court's Act, and on his retirement, after ten years' service, received the usual retiring allowance. Mr. MacDermott's long and useful career was brought to a close by his death in 1877.