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*ONLINE* Sue Williams - Elizabeth & Elizabeth

An Australian Heritage Festival event

Two courageous, tough and influential women, and a friendship that helped shape colonial Australia.

The story of how two women, who should have been bitter foes, combined their courage and wisdom to wield extraordinary power and influence behind the scenes of the fledgling colony.

One was Elizabeth Macquarie, the wife of the new governor Lachlan Macquarie, nudging him towards social reform and magnificent buildings and town planning. The other was Elizabeth Macarthur, the wife of John Macarthur, a dangerous enemy of the establishment, who is herself credited with creating Australia's wool industry.

Moving in the same social circles and embroiled in the same politics, gradually the two women found common ground and supported each other through the difficulties of colonial life. 

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