[4][5] The son of Sir John Macartney, 1st Baronet and his second wife Catherine Burgh (daughter of the eminent but short-lived judge Walter Hussey Burgh), he was born in Dublin, Ireland, and educated at Trinity College, Dublin.
[6] Perry made him Archdeacon of Geelong in 1848 and Dean of Melbourne’s new cathedral, St James, four years later.
In regard to the colonisation of Australia, Macartney was quoted as saying that Aboriginal people "were not the rightful owners of the soil" and had "not been unjustly dispossessed by the white man".
One son, Hussey Burgh Macartney, junior, was vicar of St. Mary's Anglican Church Caulfield, Victoria, for 30 years.
A great-grandson, Jim Macartney, was a noted newspaper editor and media figure in Western Australia.