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John Macarthur ( 1767- 1834), soldier, politician and pioneer of the Australian wool industry, was born in Devonshire, but the MacArthurs are an old Argyllshire family, from which the American military hero General Douglas MacArthur was also descended. (Macarthur usually spelled his surname M'Arthur, and sometimes MacArthur. The spelling Macarthur became established only late in his life.)

Macarthur joined the Army as a young man and arrived in Sydney, New South Wales, then a small and isolated penal colony, as a lieutenant in the New South Wales Corps in 1790. This was an undistinguished unit banished to a remote posting, and the quality of its officers was not high. The main currency of the colony was spirits, and the Corps soon monopolised the trade and earned the nickname the Rum Corps.

In 1792 the acting Governor, Francis Grose, appointed him paymaster and inspector of public works, and gave him a land grant at Parramatta, west of Sydney, where he and his highly capable wife Elizabeth farmed successfully. Around this time he developed the idea that New South Wales would be an excellent place to grow high quality wool. In 1794Events February 11 1st session of US Senate open to the public. March 14 Eli Whitney is granted a patent for the cotton gin. March 27 The United States Government established a permanent United States Navy and authorized the building of six vessels (in 17 he imported his first sheep, and in 1796Events Edward Jenner develops vaccination, using cowpox to protect against smallpox February 1 The capital of Upper Canada is moved from Newark to York March 9 Widow Josephine de Beauharnais marries General Napoleon Bonaparte. March 30 Carl Gauss obtained he was able to import Spanish merino sheep and establish Australia's first commercially successful wool exporting business.

Macarthur quarrelled with successive governors and most of his neighbours, and in 1801Events January 1 Legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland completed under the Act of Union 1800, bringing about the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. January 1 Giuseppe Piazzi discovers the first (and largest) asteroid Ceres. January 20 J he was sent to England for court martial after being involved in a duel. In England he got the charges against him dropped, and lobbied for support for his wool-growing ideas. The Colonial Secretary, Lord Camden , supported him, and in 1805Events January 11 Michigan Territory is created. February 15 Harmony Society officially formed March 1 Justice Samuel Chase acquitted of impeachment charges by the U. Senate April 27 United States Marines and Berbers attack the Tripolitan city of Derna (T he returned to Sydney with authority to establish a large sheeprun south of Sydney, which he called Camden Park.

Wool had great advantages as an industry for New South Wales, which because of its distance from European markets needed a commodity which did not perish during long sea-voyages and which offered high value per unit of weight. Wool was such a commodity, and it had a ready market in England because the Napoleonic WarsThe Napoleonic Wars lasted from 1804 until 1815. They were a continuation of the conflicts sparked by the French Revolution and covered the duration of the First French Empire. The First and Second Coalitions For a more detailed account see the French Rev had cut English cloth-makers off from their traditional source of quality wool, SpainThe Kingdom of Spain is a country located in the southwest of Europe. It shares the Iberian Peninsula with Portugal, Gibraltar and Andorra. To the northeast, along the Pyrenees mountain range, it borders France and the tiny principality of Andorra. It inc. The export of wool soon made Macarthur the richest man in New South Wales.

In January 1808Events January 1 Importation of slaves into the United States is banned February 11 Anthracite coal first burned as fuel, experimentally. February Russia issues an ultimatum to Sweden, to join France, Denmark and Russia and attacks Finland. March 26 Charl Macarthur was a leading figure in the Rum RebellionThe rum rebellion of 1808 was the only successful (if only temporarily so) armed takeover of government in Australia's recorded history. The rebellion was precipitated by the governor of New South Wales, William Bligh, who attempted to normalise trading c against Governor William Bligh, who had tried to suppress the traffic in spirits, which he believed was ruining the colony. It was Bligh who had famously said to Macarthur: "What have I to do with your sheep, sir? Are you to have such flocks of sheep as no man ever heard of before? No, sir!"

After the rebellion Macarthur resigned his commission to avoid court martial and returned to London, where he remained in exile until 1817. During these years Elizabeth ran Camden Park, and she has as good a claim as her husband to be regarded as the founder of the Australian wool industry.

On his return to the colony Macarthur devoted himself to farming. As well as expanding the wool industry, he established Australia's first commercial winemaker, was a founding investor of the Australian Agricultural Company and the Bank of Australia, and was an early member of the New South Wales Legislative Council. He died at Camden in 1834. His numerous and wealthy family remained influential in New South Wales affairs for many years. As the Macarthur-Onslows they are still wealthy but no longer prominent in public life.