Elizabeth Macarthur High School is a selective and community high school. The school serves the Narellan area, near Camden Park. Elizabeth’s family is also memorialised in many place names throughout New South Wales. The Australian electoral division of Macarthur, which encompasses the area around Camden Park, was named after Elizabeth and John Macarthur. A small township west of Melbourne is also called Macarthur and was named, in 1857, for Elizabeth’s son General
Edward Macarthur, as was Macarthur Street in East Melbourne.
In 1966, when Australia converted to decimal currency, John Macarthur was featured on the two-dollar note. The note was issued until 1988, when it was replaced by the two-dollar coin. In 1995 Elizabeth Macarthur was commemorated on a collectors-edition five-dollar coin, part of a set celebrating colonial Australia.
Acknowledgments
Writing a book is not nearly the solitary activity I imagined it might be.
The Australian literary community provided me with solid support and vital networks. Writers Victoria introduced me to a whole new world of writers and writing. My shortlisting for the Hazel Rowley fellowship provided much needed validation and motivation. I spent two weeks in the Blue Mountains at Varuna, as the recipient of a residential fellowship. In Canberra I was accepted into the ACT Writers Centre’s HARDCOPY professional development program for writers. This program, and the marvellous people I’ve met through it, was my literary launch pad.
In 2014 I visited Elizabeth Macarthur’s birthplace: Bridgerule. I could not have received a warmer welcome. My thanks to all I met, including Rose Hitchings, who was almost as excited as I was to find the gravestones of Elizabeth Macarthur’s parents and sister. Diana Green who generously shared her knowledge, pictures and research. The owners of the Glebe—now a beautiful B&B, but once the home of Elizabeth’s best friend Bridget Kingdon. David and Vivienne Hale, owners of Lodgeworthy Farm (where Elizabeth Macarthur was born), who kindly invited me into their home, shared their information about Elizabeth and provided the most delicious afternoon tea. The spritely octogenarian, Mr Bowden, who showed me through St Bridget’s church and then rang the church bells for me. And last and best of all, Bridgerule local Sheila Cholwill who invited me, a complete stranger, into her home and spent days showing me around the village. Sheila and her husband Colin’s generosity and thoughtfulness will stay with me for a very long time.
In the course of writing this book it became very clear to me that people who love books are my kind of people. Every single librarian I came across was unfailingly helpful. Perhaps the collective noun should be a kindness of librarians. At Sydney Living Museums Jacky Dalton and Jacqui Newling were lovely. My grateful thanks also to Edwina and John Macarthur-Stanham. Through my online blog (Adventures in Biography) I made many new bookish friends, who were lavish with their support and information. Shout outs to fellow bloggers Whispering Gums, ANZLitlovers, the Australian Legend, and A Biographer in Perth. Special mentions to Dr Marion Diamond at Historians Are Past Caring, family historian Roger Kingdon, and to biographer Bernice Barry—who all were incredibly generous with their information, insights and expertise.
Special thanks to my agent Jacinta di Mase, my editor Jane Pearson and my publisher at Text, Michael Heyward. You were all willing to take a punt on me and in so doing changed my life.
Thank you to my brilliant day-job colleagues at ACIG (www.acig.com.au): Gerard Colla, Euan Lockie, Linda Hall, Tom Dale, Jo Lim, Tracey Hind and Erin Louis. You make working a pleasure and you provided unwavering support and enthusiasm for the book, even when my own motivation flagged.
The encouragement of friends, family and colleagues also made a big difference. Few of you stepped inside my home, or welcomed me into yours, without gently asking how the book was going—which meant more to me than you might imagine. Many thanks to all my friends, old and new. Particular commendation to Jane McKenzie, whose willing participation in my Sydney research adventures truly helped me over the line, and to Samantha Comte, for always being there for me.
And thank you most of all to my wonderful husband Tim and our beautiful children: Charlie, Will and Ashlee. I could never have done it without you.
Michelle Scott Tucker lives on a small farm in Victoria with her husband and children. She owns and operates a management consulting company. Elizabeth Macarthur: A Life at the Edge of the World is her first book.
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Notes
Letters to and from Elizabeth Macarthur, and between her immediate family members, can be found in the Macarthur Papers, First and Second Collections, Mitchell Library, Sydney. The sources for other letters and documents are provided in the notes below.
Transcripts of some of the Macarthur letters can be found in:
Hughes, J. (ed), The Journal and Letters of Elizabeth Macarthur 1789–1798, Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales, Sydney, 1984.
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