The Dictionary of Australasian Biography/Macarthur, James
Macarthur, James, third son of John Macarthur, of Camden Park, New South Wales, was born at Parramatta in 1798, and assisted for some years in the management of his father's estate. In 1836 he went to England, which he had twice previously visited, taking with him petitions to the king and parliament on transportation, immigration, and representative institutions; and in the following year published in London, "New South Wales: its Present State and Future Prospects." On his return, in 1839, he became a member of the Legislative Council; but in 1843 was defeated for Cumberland by Mr. (afterwards Sir) Charles Cowper, whom he had assisted Mr. Therry to defeat in the neighbouring constituency of Camden. Subsequently Mr. Macarthur declined a nominee seat. In 1848 he was elected for Camden to the new Council, in which he sat for five years. In 1853 he moved the resolution which empowered Mr. Wentworth and Mr. Deas Thomson to advocate the new Constitution Act in England. He was returned to the Assembly for West Camden in 1859, but retired on the ground of ill-health; and at this time declined the offer of knighthood made to him through Sir William Denison. In 1860 Mr. Macarthur, who was one of the pioneers of the Australian wine industry, revisited England, where he acted as a member of the International Statistical Congress and Commissioner of the Exhibition of 1862. He returned to New South Wales in 1864, and died on April 21st, 1867. In 1838 he married Emily, second daughter of Henry Stone, of Lombard Street, London. His only daughter, Elizabeth, married the late Captain Arthur Alexander Walton Onslow, R.N. (q.v.). In 1840 Mr. Macarthur accompanied Count Strzelecki and Mr. James Riley on their exploration of Gippsland, as it was named by the Count.