Paleography – transcribing old letters
Transcribing Elizabeth Macarthur’s letters is at once illuminating and frustrating. I’m currently working on one that Elizabeth sent to Captain John Piper, in 1804. The original is held in the Mitchell Library, Sydney. John Macarthur was away in England at the time and Captain Piper, a good friend to both Elizabeth and John, was stationed…
Sidesaddle
Elizabeth Macarthur was a horsewoman. She wrote a letter describing riding through the bush on a three day trip to the Hawkesbury. Governor Macquarie wrote about encountering her on horseback. But that’s all I know. I can’t tell you if Elizabeth rode for pleasure, although her friend Betsy Marsden certainly did (Betsy’s husband wrote to…