Elizabeth & Elizabeth

Elizabeth & Elizabeth by Sue Williams is a novel based on the story of two women who were prominent figures in the early European settlement of Sydney. Both Elizabeths were married to dominant men - Governor Lachlan Macquarie and John Macarthur.

Lachlan Macquarie was governor of the Colony of NSW from January 1810 until February 1822. During that twelve years, the settlement changed from a collection of ramshackle buildings to a town with planned streets and architectually designed public buildings. It was no longer just a convict settlement but also a community for free settlers to live - those who had arrived from overseas and decided to make their home in the colony plus the convicts who had served their sentence. He also ensured that emancipists (former convicts) were actively involved in the new colony and were treated as equals with free settlers. Elizabeth Macquarie actively supported the changes that were made to improve life in the Colony.

John Macarthur arrived in NSW as an officer in the army and stayed. After been given large land grants he specialised in establishing sheep farming in the Colony. He also became actively involved in political issues and on two occasions returned to England in order to defend himself for some of his actions, including his involvement in the plot to remove Governor Bligh from office. In his absence Elizabeth Macarthur successfully ran and expanded the family business. 

During Macquarie's time in NSW both the Elizabeths became friends and supported each other in their endeavours to improve life in the Colony, particularly when not everyone (including John Macarthur) approved the changes introduced by the Macquaries.

Although a work of fiction, the book is based on historical fact and provides a picture of life in the Colony at the time. The names of many of the inhabitants of Sydney appear throughout the book including Simeon Lord, my great x 3 grandfather. The novel also explores how women at the time could play an active part in business and community activities but needed to ensure that their activities were not seen to usurp the role played by their husbands.

Other books on this period include:

A Room Made of Leaves by Kate Grenville (novel about Elizabeth Macarthur)

Mrs M by Luke Slattery (novel about Elizabeth Macquarie)

A Room Made of Leaves

This novel by Kate Grenville is based on the life of Elizabeth Macarthur who arrived in Australia with her husband in 1790. She was the first free woman to settle in this remote colony on the other side of the world from her home in Devon, England. 

We know a lot about John Macarthur but not a great deal is known about his wife although she played an important part in the history of the new settlement. 

Elizabeth wrote a partial record of the trip to Australia and some correspondence sent home to family and friends has also survived. But does this provide a true picture of Elizabeth's life in Australia, especially as she knew that whatever she wrote would be read by her husband and circulated among family members and their friends? This could make it difficult to express her true feelings.

Kate Grenville has created the device that before she died Elizabeth wrote a full record of her life, telling the story as it really was. The record was lost but recently discovered by the author and presented in this book. However in the novel Elizabeth warns the reader - Do not believe too quickly! Quotations from Elizabeth's actual letters are provided in the book, often accompanied by comments from the fictional Elizabeth expressing the hope that the content of the letters should not be taken at face value.

The novel covers Elizabeth's early life, the event that led to her marrying John Macarthur and the decision to travel to Australia to improve his prospects and to make his fortune. It then recounts events that may have occurred during their first thirteen years in the colony. No secret is made of the fact that John Macarthur was not a pleasant man but, having married him, Elizabeth makes the best of a bad situation. It is when they obtain land for a farm that she has the opportunity to do something that she really enjoys, overseeing the development of the family's flock of sheep.

The novel creates a picture of what life in the colony may have been like for a woman like Elizabeth, the challenges faced with a young family and the loneliness. There was also the issue of having to try and pacify a husband who was prone to cause fights with his aquaintances.

The relationship between the indigenous population and the new settlers is also a feature of the novel.

Kate Grenville has written a number of novels set in the colony of New South Wales and, as well as providing a good story, they help provide a picture of what it may have been like living in the colony during that time. Readers may also like to investigate some of the actual events featuring in the novel.

I also had a family history interest in reading this novel. The historical record shows that after the period covered in this book there were a number of instances where John Macarthur expressed his view about one of my ancestors, an emancipist who had become successful in the colony.

Winner of the 2021 Christina Stead Prize for fiction in the NSW Premier's Literary Awards

Elizabeth Macarthur - Australian Dictionary of Biography

John Macarthur - Australian Dictionary of Biography

Mrs M

In 2014 Luke Slattery wrote the book, The First Dismissal, a study of the final years of  the governorship of Lachlan Macquarie in New South Wales focusing on the criticism of his term as reported in The Bigge Report.

Slattery has now written a work of historical fiction with Elizabeth Macquarie, Lachlan Macquarie's wife, as the main character. The story in the novel fluctuates between Elizabeth's life on the Scottish island of Mull and her life in Sydney as the wife of the governor. In November 1807, Elizabeth was 29 when she married Lachlan who was 46 and widowed. Jane, his first wife, had died in India in 1796.

In the novel there is a three way partnership between Elizabeth, Lachlan and the convict Francis Greenway (referred to as The Architect) who was employed by the governor to design public buildings for the new colony. Elizabeth was known to be interested in gardening and in architecture, and supported her husband in his aim of improving the look of the new settlement. In the book she and The Architect work closely together, not always with her husband's approval.

Sydney was established as a prison settlement but as many of the convicts gained their freedom there was a new dimension to the needs of the colony. As governor, Macquarie used the talents of the emancipists, including Greenway, to carry out his vision antagonising many of the former military officers and other free settlers living in the colony. Factions developed in the colony culminating with the British government sending Commissioner Bigge to write a report on Macquarie's management style and spending. Tensions also developed regarding attitudes to the treatment of aboriginal people.

This is a work of fiction set in an historical setting which I enjoyed reading. As such it is a good story that also provides an understanding of some of the underlying tensions prevalent, as well as achievements, in the early days of colonial Australia. However in the postscript the author points out some of the historical events in the lives of the characters which were changed for the writing of the novel. Hopefully some readers of this book will decide to investigate the real stories of the the three main characters who contributed so much to the formation of Sydney.

[As a side note, one of my ancestors, Simeon Lord, also receives a couple of brief mentions in the book.]

Australian Dictionary of Biography - Elizabeth Macquarie
Australian Dictionary of Biography - Lachlan Macquarie
Australian Dictionary of Biography - Francis Greenway