John Macarthur: duellist, rebel, founding father ... Here is a new look at the origins of Australian history, one that takes us beyond the convict experience. Early Sydney was a place in which powerful men were struggling against one another to create a nation. The most capable and effective of these founding fathers was John Macarthur.
John and Elizabeth Macarthur were the first educated couple to choose to come to Australia. When they arrive in 1790 John was a penniless lieutenant. By the time he died, insane, he had created the wool industry, so important to Australia's future, and a business empire and a dynasty. Yet his success was not without a price, either for him of for those whose paths crossed his own. He was a man of amazing aggressiveness who fought three duels, almost fought several more, and opposed a series of governors.
This biography takes the reader into the intellectual and physical world of the late eighteenth century, and the fledgling society precariously establishing itself around Sydney Cove. It explored the first two thirds of John Macarthur's full and dramatic life, which climaxed with the Rum Rebellion. Michael Duffy suggests this was caused not by rum, but by the code of honour, which set out how gentlemen should behave. Governor William Blight was overthrown by the powerful people of Sydney because he was no gentleman.
John Macarthur lived in a time of transition, when the democratic rule of law was battling to smother the aristocratic code of honour. This is the story of that death struggle in the life of an extraordinary individual and the early decades of the nation he did so much to create.
Contents:
List of Illustrations
List of Maps
Introduction
1. Voyage
2. Phillip
3. Elizabeth Farm
4. Hunter
5. King
6. Luck
7. Bligh
8. Rebellion
9. Aftermath
Epilogue
Appendix
Acknowledgements
Picture and Map Credits
Notes
Sources
Index
