1767-1834. Australian colonist, a pioneer of
sheep breeding and vine growing. He
quarrelled with successive governors of New
South Wales, and, when arrested by William
Bligh, stirred up the Rum Rebellion 1808, in
which Bligh was himself arrested and deposed.
Born in Devon, England, MacArthur went to
Sydney in 1790, and began experiments in
sheep breeding in 1794, subsequently
importing from South Africa the merino
strain. In later years he studied viticulture
and planted vines from 1817, establishing the
first commercial vineyard in Australia.