[5] Her father, a noted entomologist and Fellow of the Linnean Society, encouraged his daughters to learn botany, entomology, zoology, and ornithology from the books in his library.

Alexander sent Fanny for lessons with the French natural history artist Pelletier, to better improve her drawing to assist with his scientific collections.

[6] Travelling between their residence in London and country house in Surrey gave her access to the best drawing masters, and she soon became an accomplished flower painter.

[4] Her father's position in the science community meant Macleay met such prominent scientists as Robert Brown and William Kirby.

As his scientific pursuits brought the family into more debt, it was Fanny who encouraged her father to accept the offer of a position as Colonial Secretary of New South Wales.

[5] Having such proximity to distinguished scientists meant Macleay was often pioneering the documentation of new species, with Robert Brown publishing On the Organs and Mode of Fecundation in Orchideae and Asclepiadeae in 1828 when Fanny herself had first drawn the orchids two years earlier.

[5] Despite her passion for science and her proficiency as a natural history artist, Macleay was destined for her work to only be seen in the context of Alexander and William's scientific accomplishments.

[10] Macleay first met the botanist Robert Brown as a young girl, when in 1814 he was invited to stay at her family's country house at Tilbuster Lodge.

[4] Her brother George did not have pleasant things to say about Harrington, describing him as a "half-caste Indian" and that his sister is "not the person in my opinion to submit to the inconvenience of poverty in a cottage".

[11] The newly married couple honeymooned at Brownlow Hill for only three weeks before Fanny fell ill, her stomach pains and heart palpitations requiring her to be looked after at home by family.