Camden to London and Paris: The Role of the Macarthur Family in the Early New South Wales Wine Industry Julie McIntyre* The University of Sydney Abstract The wine industry has been largely overlooked as a subject of historical analysis in Australian history despite its significance in the nineteenth century and its renewed vigour in the late 1900s. This article situates the development of a particular aspect of the industry within a broader consideration of the themes of colonization. It outlines the role of the Macarthur family in wine growing as well as exploring William Macarthur’s view of viticulture as a means of moving beyond pastoralism to further ‘civilize’ the colony of New South Wales. This article traces a particular sample of efforts to develop European agriculture in New South Wales as the next, more ‘civilized’ step after pastoralism within the broader context of Enlightenment-influenced colonial entrepreneurship. The development of agriculture generally – and wine growing, or viticulture and oenology, in particular – was a much more complex and uneven process than was often represented in the traditional historical narrative of Australia in which wool, gold and wheat were portrayed as nation-building commodities, often to the exclusion of other less iconic primary products. William Macarthur was among those who perceived that wine growing could ‘civilize’ New South Wales. National histories no longer abbreviate the role of the Macarthur family to John Macarthur’s contribution to the creation of a wool industry; his wife Elizabeth is recognised as a grazier in her own right. What has not been explored in depth by historians, however, is the role of William Macarthur and his father and brothers in the growth of the New South Wales wine industry in the mid-nineteenth century or, indeed, the broader cultural, economic and scientific significance of the industry. 1 The trajectory ‘Camden to London and Paris’ refers to Camden as the site of the Macarthur family’s successful commercial scale vineyards and winery, London as the financial and scientific centre of the British Empire and a potential market for colonial wine, and Paris as the capital of the world’s premier wine producing nation. The cultural significance of quality wine made it necessary to make a good impression on the French and other © 2007 The Author Journal Compilation © 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd History Compass 5/2 (2007): 427–438, 10.1111/j.1478-0542.2007.00419.x