In 1840 his brother Patrick,[3] married Catherine (Kate) Macarthur, daughter of
Hannibal Macarthur (a Member of the
New South Wales Legislative Council) and granddaughter of
Philip Gidley King (former
Governor of New South Wales). On 2 December 1847, George Leslie married Catherine's sister Emmeline Maria Macarthur at All Saints Church,
Parramatta, New South Wales.[4] The wedding of George and Emmeline was the first to be held in the church (which is now heritage-listed).[5][6] George and Emmeline had no children.
He was an active advocate for the
separation of Queensland as a separate colony, and he was a strong supporter that the
boundary of the new colony should be at latitude 30°S which would include both the Clarence and Darling Downs districts in the new colony.[10] However, the border between Queensland and New South wales was established between 28-29°S and the Clarence district remained part of New South Wales. His brother Patrick was briefly a member of the
New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1857.[3]
Later life
Leslie retired to England due to ill health in 1855. He died from an attack of haemorrhage of the lungs on 22 June 1860 at Farnborough House in
Hampshire, England.[1][11][12]
On 12 September 1865, his widow Emmeline married Vigant Falbe, a commander in the
Royal Danish Navy, at the
Priory Church,
Great Malvern, England.[13][14] They had two sons: Christian (1866–1914) and Vigant William (1868–1940). Commander Falbe died on 19 June 1871 in
Hastings, England from the rigours of his earlier Polar expeditions.[15][16] Emmeline died on 23 December 1891 in
Cheltenham, England.[17]
^Gill, J. C. H. (James Connal Howard) (1 January 1990),
Book Review: My Dear Miss Macarthur, Royal Historical Society of Queensland, retrieved 7 November 2015
Further reading
Falbe, Jane de (1988), My dear Miss Macarthur : the recollections of Emmeline Maria Macarthur (1828-1911), Kangaroo Press,
ISBN978-0-86417-203-7