A biographical study of New England Crown Lands Commissioner George James Macdonald (1805-1851) and Darling Downs squatter Arthur Hodgson (1818-1902). This work is particularly interesting for the information it provides on what Gilbert terms the 'Wener-Eliott Album', a scrap-book containing cuttings of poems by Macdonald that appeared in nineteenth century newspapers, along with manuscript versions of a number of Macdonald's apparently unpublished poems. According to Gilbert, the album originally belonged to Jane Richards (nee Nicholas), the wife of William Richards, who once held Winterbourne station (near present day Walcha), and is currently held in a private collection.