Macarthur-Onslow, S. M., The Macarthurs of Camden, Rigby, Adelaide, 1973 (first published 1914).
1. The Lost Comforts of Home
1 Elizabeth Macarthur to her mother Grace Leach, 18 March 1781, Macarthur Papers, Mitchell Library, Sydney.
2 Elizabeth Macarthur’s Journal, undated, Macarthur Papers, Mitchell Library, Sydney.
3 Elizabeth Macarthur to her mother Grace Leach, 8 Oct 1789.
4 Collins, An Account of The English Colony in New South Wales 1788 to 1801, published 1802, subsequently Reed, Sydney 1975, Chapter X.
5 Tench, A Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson, J. Nichol, 1793, Chapter vii.
6 Collins, An Account of The English Colony in New South Wales, Chapter X.
7 Tench, Chapter vii.
8 Collins, An Account of The English Colony in New South Wales, Chapter X.
9 Captain William Hill to Samuel Wathen, 26 July 1790, Historical Records of New South Wales, vol. 1, Part 2, p. 369.
10 Rev Johnson to Mr Thornton, July 1790, Historical Records of New South Wales vol. 1, Part 2,—Phillip, p. 386.
11 Extract from a letter, Historical Records of New South Wales vol. 1, Part 2,—Phillip, p. 767.
12 Rev Johnson to Mr Thornton, July 1790, Historical Records of New South Wales vol. 1, Part 2,—Phillip, p. 386.
13 Collins, An Account of The English Colony in New South Wales, Chapter X.
14 Rev Johnson to Mr Thornton, July 1790, Historical Records of New South Wales vol 1, Part 2,—Phillip, p. 387.
15 Tench, Chapter vii.
16 Collins, An Account of The English Colony in New South Wales, Chapter X.
17 Tench, Chapter vii.
2. An Ill-advised Marriage
1 Episcopal visitation Returns 1779, viewed online, 2 September 2013,
2 Bridgerule Baptisms 1754–1812, transcribed by J. Upton, viewed online, 25 Feb 2011,
3 Devon Freeholders Book, 1741, viewed online, 11 February 2011,
4 Bridget Kingdon to Elizabeth Macarthur, 15 September 1799.
5 Bridgerule Baptisms 1754–1812, transcribed by J. Upton, viewed online, 25 February 2011,
6 King, Elizabeth Macarthur and Her World, Sydney University Press, 1980, p. 4.
7 Undated handwritten note in the Macarthur Papers, vol. 10, A2906.
8 Davidoff and Hall, Family Fortunes: Men and Women of the English Middle Class, 1780–1850, The University of Chicago Press, 1987, p. 105.
9 Atkinson, ‘John Macarthur before Australia Knew Him’, Journal of Australian Studies No. 4, Melbourne, June 1979, p. 25.
10 Plymouth Data, viewed online 13 February 2011,
11 Atkinson, Journal of Australian Studies, No. 4, p. 28.
12 Ibid., p 26.
13 Ellis, John Macarthur, Angus and Robertson, 1978, p. 6.
14 Devonport Online, viewed online, 13 February 2011,
15 Atkinson, Journal of Australian Studies, No. 4, p. 29.
16 Ibid.
17 Ibid., p. 30.
18 Ibid.
19 James Macarthur to Roger Thierry, 24 February 1859, as cited in Atkinson, Journal of Australian Studies, No. 4, p. 31.
20 Elizabeth Macarthur to Eliza Kingdon, March 1816.
21 Porter, English Society in the Eighteenth Century, 1988, pp. 190–92.
22 Elizabeth Macarthur to Bridget Kingdon, 1 September 1798.
23 Bridget Kingdon to Elizabeth Macarthur, 15 September 1799.
24 Atkinson, Journal of Australian Studies, No. 4, p. 33.
25 Elizabeth veale conveys to James vowler, gent of Bridgerule, 8 closes called Two Broad Parks, Longmoore and Longland. Conditions: no timber to be taken. Consideration £340. viewed online, 25 February 2011,
26 Stone, The Family, Sex and Marriage in England 1500–1800, 1977, p. 46.
27 Watercolour on ivory miniature, reputedly Elizabeth Macarthur, 1785–1790, viewed online, 1 March 2011,
28 vickery, The Gentleman’s Daughter: Women’s Lives in Georgian England, 1998, p. 40.
29 Elizabeth Macarthur to Bridget Kingdon, 1 September 1798.
30 Portrait of John Macarthur, c. 1850s, Artist unknown, oil, viewed online 1 March 2011,
31 King, Elizabeth Macarthur and Her World, 1980, p. 7.
32 Bridgerule Marriage Register 1754–1837, viewed online, 11 Feb 2011,
33 Atkinson, Journal of Australian Studies No. 4, p. 33.
34 Ibid. The letter was dated 10 March 1789.
35 Hill, ‘Macarthur, Sir Edward (1789–1872)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, volume 5, 1974, pp. 122–23.
36 Stone, The Family, Sex and Marriage in England 1500–1800, p. 35.
37 vickery, The Gentleman’s Daughter: Women’s Lives in Georgian England, 1998, p. 45.
38 Stone, The Family, Sex and Marriage in England 1500–1800, p. 504.
39 King, Elizabeth Macarthur and Her World, 1980, p. 9.
40 Ellis, John Macarthur, 1978, p. 10.
41 Flannery (ed), The Birth of Sydney, 1999, p. 49.
42 Wantrup, ‘The voyage of the First Fleet’, Latrobe Journal No. 41, 1988, pp. 30–34.
43 Elizabeth Macarthur to her mother, Grace Leach, 8 October 1789.
3. Honour and a Small Victory
1 British National Maritime Museum, scale model, viewed online, 25 April 2017,
2 Flynn, The Second Fleet: Britain’s Grim Convict Armada of 1790, 1993, p. 33.
3 Rees, The Floating Brothel, 2001, p. 59.
4 Lavery, Jack Aubrey Commands: An Historical Companion to the Naval World of Patrick O’Brian, 2003, pp. 29–30.
5 internet Family History Association of Australia, viewed online, 25 April 2017,
6 For convict numbers, refer to Historical Records of New South Wales, vol. 2, p. 432.
7 Duffy, Man of Honour, 2003, p. 31.
8 Historical Records of New South Wales, vol. 2, p. 427.
9 Elizabeth Macarthur’s shipboard journal.
10 Ibid.
11 Historical Records of New South Wales, vol. 2, p. 428.
12 Ellis, John Macarthur, 1978, p. 18.
13 As cited in Flynn, The Second Fleet, 1993, p. 38.
14 Devonport Online, viewed online, 13 February 2011,
15 Ellis, John Macarthur, 1978, p. 19.
16 Flynn, The Second Fleet, 1993, p. 38.
17 Duffy, Man of Honour, 2003, pp. 36–40.
18 Elizabeth Macarthur’s shipboard journal.
19 Flynn, The Second Fleet, 1993, p. 65.
20 Elizabeth Macarthur’s shipboard journal.
21 Ibid.
22 Flynn, The Second Fleet, 1993, p. 38.
23 Ibid., p. 36.
24 Ibid., p. 39.
25 Ibid.
26 Ibid.
27 Elizabeth Macarthur’s shipboard journal.
28 Flynn, The Second Fleet, 1993, p. 33.
29 Elizabeth Macarthur’s shipboard journal.
30 Ibid.
4. From the Neptune to the Scarborough
1 Flynn, The Second Fleet, 1993, p. 59.
2 Ibid., p. 61.
3 Elizabeth Macarthur’s shipboard journal.
4 Ibid.
5 Ibid.
6 Ibid.
7 All Darcy Wentworth references from the Australian Dicti
onary of Biography, viewed online, 25 April 2017
8 Flynn, The Second Fleet, 1993, p. 34.
9 Letter written by Rev Johnson, in Flannery, Birth of Sydney, 1999, pp. 101–102.
10 Elizabeth Macarthur’s shipboard journal.
11 Ibid.
12 Flynn, The Second Fleet, 1993, p. 33.
13 Ibid.
14 Elizabeth Macarthur’s shipboard journal.
15 Ibid.
16 Flynn, The Second Fleet, 1993, p. 56.
17 Ibid.
18 Bown, Scurvy: How a Surgeon, a Mariner, and a Gentlemen Solved the Greatest Medical Mystery of the Age of Sail, 2003, p. 19.
19 Ibid.
20 Ibid., pp. 20–21.
21 Historical Records of New South Wales, vol. 2, p. 751.
22 Elizabeth Macarthur’s shipboard journal.
23 Ibid.
24 Ibid.
25 Ibid.
26 Ibid.
27 Ibid.
28 Ibid.
29 Ibid.
30 Ibid.
31 Ibid.
32 Ibid.
33 Ibid.
34 Ibid.
35 Ibid.
36 Elizabeth Macarthur to her mother, Grace Leach, 20 April 1790.
37 Elizabeth Macarthur’s shipboard journal.
5. The Tempestuous Southern Ocean
1 Elizabeth Macarthur to her mother, Grace Leach, 10 April 1790.
2 Ibid.
3 Flynn, The Second Fleet, 1993, p. 25.
4 Mundle, Bligh: Master Mariner, 2010, p. 207.
5 Rees, The Floating Brothel, 2001, p. 180.
6 Ibid.
7 Collingridge, Captain Cook: The Life, Death and Legacy of History’s Greatest Explorer, 2003, p. 341.
8 Flynn, The Second Fleet, 1993, p. 44.
9 Ibid., p. 70.
10 Rev Johnson, in Historical Records of New South Wales, vol. 1.
11 Historical Records of New South Wales vol. 1, p. 438.
12 Elizabeth Macarthur to her mother, Grace Leach, 10 April 1790.
13 Ibid.
14 Ibid.
15 Ibid.
16 Ibid.
17 Elizabeth Macarthur’s shipboard journal.
18 Flynn, The Second Fleet, 1993, p. 59.
19 Elizabeth Macarthur’s shipboard journal.
20 Flynn, The Second Fleet, 1993, p. 59.
21 Ibid.
22 Rev Johnson to Mr Thornton, July 1790, Historical Records of New South Wales, vol. 1, Part 2–Phillip, p. 386.
23 Collingridge, Captain Cook, 2003, p. 176.
6. Heavenly Bodies, Botany and Piano Lessons
1 There are about 29 clan groups of the Sydney metropolitan area, referred to collectively as the Eora Nation. Barani: Sydney’s Aboriginal History, viewed online, 11 Jan 2018,
2 Tench, 1788: A Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson, 2009, p. 168.
3 Clendinnen, Dancing with Strangers, 2005, p. 99.
4 Ibid., p. 101.
5 Elizabeth Macarthur to Bridget Kingdon, 7 March 1791.
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid.
8 Collins, An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, August 1790, 1802.
9 Edward Macarthur was baptised at St Phillips, Sydney, on 1 April 1791. Smee, Born in the English Colony of New South Wales 1788–1800, 2009.
10 Elizabeth Macarthur to Bridget Kingdon, 7 March 1791.
11 Ibid.
12 Ibid.
13 Ibid.
14 As cited in Clendinnen, Dancing with Strangers, 2005, p. 155.
15 Tench, 1788, 2009, p. 183.
16 viewed online, 1 May 2016,
17 Elizabeth Macarthur’s shipboard journal.
18 Elizabeth Macarthur to her mother, Grace Leach, 18 March 1791.
19 Elizabeth Macarthur to Bridget Kingdon, 7 March 1791.
20 Elizabeth Macarthur to her mother, Grace Leach, 18 March 1791.
21 Macarthur-Onslow, The Macarthurs of Camden, 1973, p. 20.
22 Elizabeth Macarthur to Bridget Kingdon, 7 March 1791.
23 Elizabeth Macarthur to her mother, Grace Leach, 18 March 1791.
24 Tench, 1788, 2009, p. 178, also, Collins, An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales.
25 Elizabeth Macarthur to Bridget Kingdon, 7 March 1791.
26 Tench, 1788, 2009, p. 179.
27 As cited in Clendinnen, Dancing with Strangers, 2005, p. 117.
28 Ibid., p. 120.
29 Elizabeth Macarthur to Bridget Kingdon, 7 March 1791.
30 Ibid.
31 Ibid.
32 Ibid.
33 Ibid.
34 Ibid.
35 Ibid.
36 Ibid.
37 Tench, 1788, 2009, footnote pp. 163–164.
38 Tench, 1788, 2009, pp. 165–166. Clendinnen, Dancing with Strangers, 2005, pp. 172–173.
39 Tench, 1788, 2009, footnote p. 166.
40 Elizabeth Macarthur to Bridget Kingdon, 7 March 1791.
41 Ibid.
42 Dawes’ notebooks were considered lost until in 1977 they were discovered in the Library of the Royal Society in London (Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Journal, No. 58 (2009) pp. 83–98).
43 Elizabeth Macarthur to Bridget Kingdon, 7 March 1791.
44 Ibid.
45 Ibid.
46 Ibid.
47 Ibid. Tench, 1788, 2009, p. 151.
48 Ibid.
49 Ibid., p. 234.
50 Elizabeth Macarthur to Bridget Kingdon, 7 March 1791.
51 Elizabeth Macarthur to her mother, Grace Leach, 18 March 1791.
52 Frost, Botany Bay Mirages, 1995, p. 218.
53 Tench, 1788, 2009, footnote, p. 102.
54 Ibid., p. 239.
55 Ibid., p. 236.
56 Ibid., p. 243.
57 Ibid., p. 242.
58 As cited in Clendinnen, Dancing with Strangers, 2005, p. 49.
59 Hunter, as cited in Egan, (ed), Buried Alive: Sydney 1788–92 Eyewitness Accounts of the Making of a Nation, 1999, p. 227.
60 Collins, An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, Part v, Ch. 12.
61 Elizabeth Macarthur to Bridget Kingdon, 7 March 1791.
62 Ibid.
63 Collins, An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, April 1791.
64 Elizabeth Macarthur to her mother, Grace Leach, 18 March 1791.
65 Dictionary of Sydney, viewed online, 11 January 2018,
66 Collins, An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, July 1791.
67 Elizabeth Macarthur to Bridget Kingdon, 7 March 1791.
68 Elizabeth Macarthur letter to England, extract, 18 November 1791.
69 Ibid.
70 Collins, An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, July 1791.
71 Ibid.
7. A Change in Fortune
1 Shaw, ‘King, Phillip Gidley (1758–1808)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, viewed online, 14 September 2012,
2 Elizabeth Macarthur letter to England, extract, 18 November 1791.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid.
5 Bassett, The Governor’s Lady: Mrs Phillip Gidley King, 1992, pp.112–114.
6 Elizabeth Macarthur letter to England, extract, 18 November 1791.
7 Collins, An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, October 1791.
8 Shaw, ‘King, Phillip Gidley (1758–1808)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, viewed online, 14 September 2012,
9 Elizabeth Macarthur letter to England, extract, 7 December 1791.
10 Tench, 1788, 2009, p. 210.
11 As quoted by Lt Ball, in Egan, Buried Alive, 1
999, p. 267.
12 Tench, 1788, 2009, p. 225.
13 Collins, An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, December 1791.
14 As quoted in Egan, Buried Alive, 1999, p. 282.
15 Collins, An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, December 1791.
16 Egan, Buried Alive, 1999, p. 283, see also Grose’s entry in Australian Dictionary of Biography.
17 As cited in Egan, Buried Alive, 1999, p. 283.
18 Collins, An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, p. 144.
19 Queensland Museum, viewed online 2 November 2012,
20 Collins, An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, p. 151.
21 Ibid., pp. 151–153.
22 Grose to Phillip, 4 October 1792, Historical Records of Australia, i, i, p. 381.
23 Phillip to Grose 4 October 1792, Historical Records of Australia, i, i, p. 381.
24 Ibid.
25 Ibid.
26 Phillip to Dundas, 14 Oct 1792, Historical Records of Australia, i, i, p. 398.
27 Collins, An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, p. 160.
28 Ibid.
29 Ellis, John Macarthur, 1978, p. 50.
30 Ibid.
31 Ibid.
32 Collins, An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, Ch. XiX.
33 Ibid., pp.164–165.
34 Ibid., Ch. XiX.
35 Ibid.
36 Ibid.
37 Phillip to Dundas, 4 October 1792, as cited in Egan, Buried Alive, 1999, p. 298.
38 As cited in Ellis, John Macarthur, 1978, pp. 58–59.
39 Elizabeth Macarthur letter to England, extract, incorrectly dated 21 December 1793 (correct date March 1793).
40 Flannery, The Birth of Sydney, 1999, p. 118.
41 Elizabeth Macarthur letter to England, extract, incorrectly dated 21 December 1793 (correct date March 1793).
8. Elizabeth Farm
1 Elizabeth Macarthur letter to England, extract, 22 August 1794.
2 Elizabeth Macarthur to Bridget Kingdon, incorrectly dated 1 September 1795 (correct date September 1798).
3 Ibid.
4 This concept is beautifully and thoroughly described in Gammage, The Greatest Estate on Earth: How Aborigines Made Australia, 2012.
5 Gammage, The Biggest Estate on Earth, 2012, p. 2.
6 viewed online, 6 May 2016,
7 Collins, An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, May 1792.
8 Ibid.
9 Connor, The Australian Frontier Wars 1788–1838, 2002, pp. 39–40.
Elizabeth Macarthur Page 31