The Blaxlands were named in Macquarie’s secret list of 12 detractors, which he drew up in 1817. ‘All the above mentioned Persons’, Macquarie stated, ‘have long been in the habit of writing Home the most gross Misrepresentations’. Being among the first free and well-to-do settlers, the Blaxlands were unhappy when successive governors refused to honour, to their satisfaction, promises made by the British government for land and convict labour.