City of Stirling Library Services

Elizabeth Macarthur, a life at the edge of the world, Michelle Scott Tucker

eng

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biography

Elizabeth Macarthur

Michelle Scott Tucker

a life at the edge of the world

In 1788 a young gentlewoman raised in the vicarage of an English village married a handsome, haughty and penniless army officer. In any Austen novel that would be the end of the story, but for the real-life woman who became an Australian farming entrepreneur, it was just the beginning. John MacArthur took credit for establishing the Australian wool industry and would feature on the two-dollar note, but it was practical Elizabeth who managed their holdings-while dealing with the results of John's manias: duels, quarrels, court cases, a military coup, long absences overseas, grandiose construction projects and, finally, his descent into certified insanity. Michelle Scott Tucker shines a light on an often-overlooked aspect of Australia's history in this fascinating story of a remarkable woman

adult