The Dictionary of Australasian Biography/Macarthur, David Charteris
Macarthur, David Charteris, sometime Superintendent, Bank of Australasia, went to Sydney, N.S.W., in 1835 as one of the first batch of clerks sent out to start the Bank of Australasia in that city. In 1837, after the settlement at Port Phillip had been definitely organised, Mr. Macarthur was sent there to open a branch of the Bank of Australasia in Melbourne, and did so towards the end of the year in a small two-roomed house in what is now Little Collins Street. In 1854 Mr. Macarthur was one of a small committee appointed by the Governor of Victoria, Sir Charles Hotham, to inquire into the state of the finances, and concurred in the report which recommended the abolition of the imprest system. Down to 1878 Mr. Macarthur was Superintendent of the Bank of Australasia, and on his retirement was made managing director in Australia. He died on Nov. 15th, 1887.