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Member Details

Sir William MACARTHUR (1800 - 1882)

Member Photo
Date of Birth: 01/12/1800
Place of Birth: Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia
Date of Death: 29/10/1882
Place of Death: Camden Park, New South Wales, Australia
Parliamentary Service
Position Start End Period Notes
Member of the NSW Legislative Council 26 Oct 1864 22 Aug 1882 17 years 9 months 28 days Life Appointment under the Constitution Act. Date of Writ of Summons 17 October 1864
Member of the NSW Legislative Council 01 Sep 1851 31 Jan 1855 3 years 5 months An Elective Member of the first Legislative Council 1843 - 1856 for the Pastoral Districts of Lachlan and Lower Darling
Member of the NSW Legislative Council 01 Feb 1849 30 Jun 1851 2 years 5 months An Elective Member of the first Legislative Council 1843 - 1856 for the District of Port Phillip
Political Party Activity
Community Activity
Commissioned as a Justice of the Peace, and Knighted in 1856.
Qualifications, occupations and interests
Pastoralist, horticulturalist and agricultural proprieter. Educated by Huon de Kerilleau, French emigre and from 1809 in England. Travelled in Europe in 1815 and 1816. Helped father manage Camden Park Estate. Devoted time to pastoral pursuits, acquiring great freehold interests and some squatting interests in unsettled districts. President of New South Wales Vineyard Association. Had vineyard and extensive cellars at Camden. Represented New South Wales at International Exhibition in Paris in 1855. Became trustee of Free Public Library in 1870. First Vice president of Acclimatisation Society of New South Wales in 1860. Member of Australia Club. Vice President for many years and President in 1879. Member of Senate of University of Sydney from 1860 until 1880.
Military Service
Honours Received
Membership of other Parliaments & Offices Held
Local Government Activity
Personal
Son of John Macarthur, military officer and landed proprieter and Elizabeth. Unmarried. Church of England.
Additional Information
Personal papers in the Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales: 1. Macarthur family - papers, 1789 - 1930 (A2897-A3004,D185-D188); 2. Macarthur family - papers, 1796 - 1945, (A4175-A4368, *D362-*D365,D116-D117)