Elizabeth Macarthur was born in Bridgerule England, the daughter of provincial farmers, Richard and Grace Veale of Cornish origin.

John was made Commandant at Parramatta and received land grants in 1793 near there, at Rosehill, naming his property Elizabeth Farm after his wife.

Elizabeth's respectability and charm were in contrast to her husband's disputatious nature and meant that she and her children retained a good social standing despite John's many controversial actions in the following years.

Between 1801 and 1805, John was living in England, where he had been sent for court-martial after wounding his superior officer in a duel, and again from 1808 to 1817, avoiding an arrest warrant for his role in the Rum Rebellion of January 1808, and then because he refused to accept the terms for his return to New South Wales which were that he admits his wrongdoing and promise to be of good behaviour.

This included the management of household and business accounts, the employment of convict labor, the supervision of wool washing, baling, and transport, and the selection of rams and breeding to improve the flock.

It is the largest Centre of Excellence operated by New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, employing 200 scientists and located at Camden Park.

[10] Elizabeth Macarthur is commemorated on the 1995 Australian five-dollar coin which was struck for inclusion in a special Masterpieces in Silver collector proof set entitled Colonial Australia.

Elizabeth Macarthur is the subject of a fictitious memoir, A Room Made of Leaves,[12][13] by Australian author, Kate Grenville, published in 2020.