In 1788 a young woman raised in an English village married a handsome, haughty and penniless army officer. In an Austen novel that would be the end of the story, but for the real-life woman who became an Australian farming entrepreneur, it was just the beginning. John Macarthur is credited with establishing the Australian wool industry and featured on the two-dollar note, but it was Elizabeth who managed their holdings - while dealing with the results of John's manias: duels, quarrels, court cases, a military coup, long absences overseas, grandiose construction projects and, finally, his descent into insanity.
