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Elizabeth Macarthur, a central family member in Australia's pioneering wool family
was born into English affluence in 1766.
Accompanying her husband, John, to the colony in 1790,
the newlyweds began their colonial life on the outskirts of Sydney
on their property, Elizabeth Farm.
But life was not to be idyllic, as John's quarrelsome and argumentative nature
often saw him in conflict with the established order.
And in 1809 he fled to England to avoid arrest for his role in the Rum Rebellion,
the armed takeover of William Bligh's government,
who were trying to stop the trade of rum through the colony.
John remained in England for eight years, leaving Elizabeth to run their farms and raise their children.
These were hard but rewarding times
and under Elizabeth's prudent care
the Macarthurs prospered and were to become one of the wealthiest families in NSW.
Although John is often credited for the birth of the Australian wool industry
in reality it was Elizabeth and her persistent long, hard years of work on the family enterprise
that laid the foundation for Australia's position as a world leader in the wool industry.