 During his residency at Elizabeth Bay - with the family from 1839 and alone from 1845 - the house continued as a favoured location for local and visiting scientists and Sydney's intellectual circle.William Sharp Macleay died unmarried, leaving the estate to George and the insect collection to his cousin William John Macleay.Visiting esteemed English nurseryman John Gould Veitch describes in an 1864 journal entry, Elizabeth Bay House's garden as one of "few private gardens in Sydney where gardening is carried on with any spirit.