The House of Blue Glass

Alan Atkinson

In The House of Blue Glass acclaimed historian Alan Atkinson – author of the award-winning Elizabeth & John: The Macarthurs of Elizabeth Farm – explores the life of Penelope Lucas. While she is known as the Macarthur family governess, Atkinson reveals Penelope was not mainly a governess at all, but an accountant who created financial and statistical records for the Macarthurs.

Penelope Lucas came to Australia in 1804-05, in her thirties. An accountant, unmarried, and living on inherited income. While Elizabeth Macarthur was unsurprisingly upset when John arrived back from three years in England with a woman she had never heard of, Penelope went on to live with the Macarthurs for nearly 30 years and became close friends with Elizabeth. In this revelatory work, Atkinson bring together fifty years of scholarship as he explores the gender dynamics of the Macarthur household and sheds light on the life of a single woman of means in Georgian England and early colonial Sydney.

Release: Mar-2026

ISBN: 9781761170379

RRP (AUD): $34.99

Pages: 256

Format: Paperback & ebook

Alan Atkinson is an acclaimed historian and the author of Europeans in Australia, volumes I-III and Elizabeth & John: The Macarthurs of Elizabeth Farm.