Macquarie was a talented administrator and a man of vision. His belief that convicts could reform their characters and regain their status in society was not widely accepted; it garnered him the support of many convicts and the dislike of free settlers and his superiors in London. While the British government saw New South Wales as a convict dumping ground, Macquarie and his wife, Elizabeth, envisaged Sydney as the capital of a thriving and valuable colony. Some of contemporary Sydney’s finest buildings were built by Macquarie and remain a testament to his vision.