William Macarthur

Among the first viticulturists in Australia, Macarthur was a medal-winning wine-maker, as well as a respected amateur botanist and noted plant breeder.

William lived at Camden Park, south west of Sydney, with his brother James[2] who was prominent in local and colonial politics.

[1] In 1844, William Macarthur, regarded at the time as a leading Australian viticulturist, published a small volume, Letters on the Culture of the Vine, Fermentation, and the Management of the Cellar, which was widely read.

[6] Macarthur was a competent botanist, horticulturist and agriculturist, and his operations helped to make Camden Park celebrated.

The extensive catalogues of his Camden Park Nursery, published in 1843, 1845, 1850 and 1857, provide a valuable insight both into the contents of colonial gardens and to the international exchange of plants in the early-to-mid-19th century.

[6] That seat was abolished when Port Phillip separated as the Colony of Victoria in 1851 and Macarthur remained in the council as the member for the Pastoral Districts of Lachlan and Lower Darling before resigning in 1855.

Sir William Macarthur
Title page of Letters on the culture of the vine, fermentation, and the management of wine in the cellar , 1844 by "Maro" — the pseudonym for William Macarthur.
Erythrina ×bidwillii 'Camdeni' — bred by William Macarthur, was the first Australian hybrid garden plant to be published in England, in 1847.