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'A landmark and revealing joint biography of Elizabeth and John Macarthur, from one of Australia’s most respected historians.
'Arriving in 1790, Elizabeth and John Macarthur, both aged 23, were the first married couple to travel voluntarily from Europe to Australia, within three years of the initial invasion. John Macarthur soon became famous in New South Wales and beyond as a wool pioneer, a politician, and a builder of farms at Parramatta and Camden. For a long time, Elizabeth’s life was regarded as contingent on John’s and, more recently, John’s on Elizabeth’s.
'In Elizabeth and John, Alan Atkinson, prizewinning author of Europeans in Australia, draws on his work on the Macarthur family over 50 years to explore the dynamics of a strong and sinewy marriage, and family life over two generations. With the truth of John and Elizabeth Macarthur’s relationship much more complicated and more deeply human than other writers have suggested, Atkinson provides a finely drawn portrait of a powerful partnership.' (Publication summary)
Notes
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Selected as one of the ABR Podcast's best books of 2022
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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[Review] Elizabeth & John : The Macarthurs of Elizabeth Farm
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: Emotions : History, Culture, Society , December vol. 7 no. 2 2023; (p. 352–353)
— Review of Elizabeth and John : The Macarthurs of Elizabeth Farm 2022 single work biography'As the book cover tells us, Elizabeth and John Macarthur were the first married couple who chose to travel to the new colony of New South Wales, arriving in 1790, both aged twenty-three. John has come down to us as the legendary soldier, entrepreneur and pastoralist who became one of the largest landholders in the colony, promoting the colonial wool industry, tussling with a string of governors (including William Bligh, overthrown in 1808), speculating in trade, and generally earning the epithet ‘perturbator’, bestowed upon him by Philip Gidley King. John’s lengthy periods away from the colony left Elizabeth in charge of their affairs, and she has also been credited with the family’s survival and success. Here Alan Atkinson explores the dynamics of their marriage and family life across two generations.' (Introduction)
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Alan Atkinson Writes about Two of the Best-known and Consequential Figures of Early Colonial Australia
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: History Australia , vol. 20 no. 3 2023; (p. 456-457)
— Review of Elizabeth and John : The Macarthurs of Elizabeth Farm 2022 single work biography'John Macarthur has been a polarising figure in Australian history since HV Evatt’s rehabilitation of his adversary, William Bligh first appeared in 1937. Evatt cast Macarthur as a defender of landed wealth; brilliant but without ‘scruple or ‘pity’ (1944, Rum Rebellion, 197). MH Ellis countered this revisionism in his sympathetic 1955 biography of Macarthur. John’s longstanding place as nation-builder was reinforced with Gordon Andrews’ 1966 design of the new colourful two-dollar note featuring a handsome Macarthur and an equally impressive merino ram; a brilliantly distilled history lesson for Australians for 20 years. Decades later he was a ‘colonial bully’.' (Introduction)
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The Macarthurs from Inside Out
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: Inside Story , November 2022;
— Review of Elizabeth and John : The Macarthurs of Elizabeth Farm 2022 single work biography'Alan Atkinson wants to rescue John and Elizabeth Macarthur from the judgements of history'
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A Great Forest of Voices : A Doubled Historical Awareness
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , November no. 448 2022; (p. 8-9)
— Review of Elizabeth and John : The Macarthurs of Elizabeth Farm 2022 single work biography ''If we take it for granted that John Macarthur was a bad man,’ writes Alan Atkinson, ‘then all the surviving evidence takes on a colouring to match. If we think that, then every word he wrote is suspect. On the other hand, leave the question of character open and the evidence takes on a new richness altogether – a deeper and more complex humanity. That is what I aim to do in this book.’'(Publication summary)
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A Great Forest of Voices : A Doubled Historical Awareness
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , November no. 448 2022; (p. 8-9)
— Review of Elizabeth and John : The Macarthurs of Elizabeth Farm 2022 single work biography ''If we take it for granted that John Macarthur was a bad man,’ writes Alan Atkinson, ‘then all the surviving evidence takes on a colouring to match. If we think that, then every word he wrote is suspect. On the other hand, leave the question of character open and the evidence takes on a new richness altogether – a deeper and more complex humanity. That is what I aim to do in this book.’'(Publication summary)
-
Alan Atkinson Writes about Two of the Best-known and Consequential Figures of Early Colonial Australia
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: History Australia , vol. 20 no. 3 2023; (p. 456-457)
— Review of Elizabeth and John : The Macarthurs of Elizabeth Farm 2022 single work biography'John Macarthur has been a polarising figure in Australian history since HV Evatt’s rehabilitation of his adversary, William Bligh first appeared in 1937. Evatt cast Macarthur as a defender of landed wealth; brilliant but without ‘scruple or ‘pity’ (1944, Rum Rebellion, 197). MH Ellis countered this revisionism in his sympathetic 1955 biography of Macarthur. John’s longstanding place as nation-builder was reinforced with Gordon Andrews’ 1966 design of the new colourful two-dollar note featuring a handsome Macarthur and an equally impressive merino ram; a brilliantly distilled history lesson for Australians for 20 years. Decades later he was a ‘colonial bully’.' (Introduction)
-
The Macarthurs from Inside Out
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: Inside Story , November 2022;
— Review of Elizabeth and John : The Macarthurs of Elizabeth Farm 2022 single work biography'Alan Atkinson wants to rescue John and Elizabeth Macarthur from the judgements of history'
-
[Review] Elizabeth & John : The Macarthurs of Elizabeth Farm
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: Emotions : History, Culture, Society , December vol. 7 no. 2 2023; (p. 352–353)
— Review of Elizabeth and John : The Macarthurs of Elizabeth Farm 2022 single work biography'As the book cover tells us, Elizabeth and John Macarthur were the first married couple who chose to travel to the new colony of New South Wales, arriving in 1790, both aged twenty-three. John has come down to us as the legendary soldier, entrepreneur and pastoralist who became one of the largest landholders in the colony, promoting the colonial wool industry, tussling with a string of governors (including William Bligh, overthrown in 1808), speculating in trade, and generally earning the epithet ‘perturbator’, bestowed upon him by Philip Gidley King. John’s lengthy periods away from the colony left Elizabeth in charge of their affairs, and she has also been credited with the family’s survival and success. Here Alan Atkinson explores the dynamics of their marriage and family life across two generations.' (Introduction)
