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Annual donors will have access to unique and diverse opportunities to engage with Museums of History NSW and the stories of our state through a bespoke program of events commensurate with their level of giving. Donors also receive a monthly eNews to keep them up to date with events and information about our properties, collections, exhibitions and public programs.

As a Custodian, you will have the opportunity to meet with our Chief Executive Officer to discuss how your philanthropic gift can impact a specific project or program, and enjoy access to exclusive experiences with Museums of History NSW.

Donors who contribute annually to our Custodians’ and Governors’ circles provide vital support to ensuring our mission to preserve and share the stories of the state through our places and collections can be achieved, and are invited to discover their impact through the following bespoke opportunities:

• curator-led viewings of our exhibitions, collections and properties
• invitations to exhibition openings and bespoke events
• behind the scenes talks and tours

Our supporters, through their commitment to the preservation and conservation of our state’s unique history, will enjoy behind the scenes talks and tours of our properties and collections.

All donors, unless otherwise informed, will be acknowledged in our annual report.

All donations to MHNSW are tax-deductible.

February 2025

Caroline Simpson Library
Friday 7 February

Join us for a special viewing of the Alexander Mackintosh Archive, held by the Caroline Simpson Library followed by morning tea.

The archive includes more than 270 architectural drawings and specification documents relating to the work of master builder Alexander Mackintosh (1859–1937). Emigrating to Australia in 1885 as a journeyman joiner, Mackintosh went on to become a successful building contractor, working with many of Sydney’s leading architects of the early 20th century.

After Mackintosh’s death in 1937, the archive was forgotten in the roof space of the house he had built for himself and his daughters. The family home was sold in 1981, but it was only in the 1990s that the rolled documents were found. Stained and damaged from their long sojourn under the roof, they are nevertheless a remarkable surviving record that details the work of well-known Sydney architects such as W Hardy Wilson, B J Waterhouse, John Burcham Clamp and James Peddle.

View some of the beautifully hand-drawn plans and detail drawings from the archive, along with pictorial material relating to many of the houses from the collection of the Caroline Simpson Library.

March 2025

Duncan House, Castlecrag (Donors only)
Friday 7 March

In recognition of International Women's Day, Museums of History NSW will honour two pioneering women in Australian architecture: Marion Mahony Griffin and Eva Buhrich. To celebrate these remarkable women, we're delighted to invite you to Duncan House, a Castlecrag home that has benefited immensely from their design talents.

Annette Pitman, CEO of Museums of History NSW and custodian of Duncan House, will share her own experience of the Griffin and Buhrich legacies. This is a unique opportunity to learn about Griffin's and Buhrich's journeys as immigrant women working in Australia's architectural industry, as well as the lasting impact of the four women custodians who have cared for this State Heritage Listed home and garden since 1934.

April 2025

Hyde Park Barracks
Sunday 13 April

Join renowned multidisciplinary artist Hiromi Tango and Kim Tao, Manager of Curatorial at Museums of History NSW, for an in-depth discussion exploring Hope, Tango's dramatic new art installation at the Hyde Park Barracks. Following the talk, there will be a special afternoon tea with the artist.

Hope is a dynamic digital projection artwork that will use the facade of the UNESCO World Heritage–listed site as its canvas, absorbing the stories within and connecting them with visitors today. The work responds to the history of the Barracks as a place that provided refuge to people who, for various reasons, found themselves in vulnerable situations.

Accompanying the digital projection are five large-scale ‘hope flowers’ that welcome visitors through the gates, and Hope garden, a textile-based installation that will grow throughout the artwork display period.

The conversation will examine Tango's practice, which explores the intersection between art and science, with a particular focus on health and mental wellbeing.

More about Hope by Hiromi Tango

May 2025

Vaucluse House
Friday 30 May

Join us for a unique opportunity to learn about the conservation works currently underway on the waterfall, ponds and rill (stream) in the grounds of Vaucluse House.

During this special presentation, you’ll learn about the measures being taken to conserve the waterfall, ponds and rill, which provided the Wentworth family’s water supply in the 19th century, and see how the rill was formalised into a stone-lined channel in the 1930s as part of an employment relief scheme during the Great Depression. We’ll also explore how suburban development has altered the topography of the site, significantly impacting the ponds and rill, and the challenges faced by our specialist contractors, Rogers Construction Group, in restoring these tranquil and historically significant elements.

June 2025

Museum of Sydney
Friday 27 June

Join us for a bespoke curator-led viewing of Sydney Sydney, Knowing Country. This exhibition explores the development of the NSW colony through a selection of significant historical maps, plans, sketches, artworks and objects.

Inscribed over this colonial perspective is an innovative artistic intervention by designer Alison Page that layers First Nations understandings of Country.

This exhibition was developed in collaboration with Dharawal and Yuin artist and designer Alison Page, with input from the Sydney Coastal Aboriginal Women’s Group.

August 2025

Caroline Simpson Library
Friday 15 August

Join us for a special talk exploring the evolution of botanical illustration between the end of the 18th century and the turn of the 20th century.

Originally created to support scientific inquiry, botanical illustration gradually evolved into a celebrated art form that often favoured aesthetic style over scientific exactitude. One publication in particular transformed the depiction of plants: Robert Thornton's The temple of Flora. Published in batches between 1799 and 1807, this remarkable work remains the most famous and visually striking botanical publication of all time.

As part of this exclusive donor event, you'll have the rare opportunity to view original plates from The temple of Flora that were once part of the collection of Winnafreda, Countess of Portarlington. Learn about this fascinating woman, her social connections, and her collections, and view rare botanical treasures from the Caroline Simpson Library.

September 2025

Lane Cove Crime Walk
Friday 19 September

We invite you to join Mark Tedeschi AM KC, barrister, author, photographer and former prosecutor, for a leisurely bushwalk in the Lane Cove National Park, where he will share the stories of two historical true crimes that will both fascinate and horrify.

On this 2.5-kilometre walk along a section of the Lane Cove River, he will recount two remarkable crimes committed there in 1917 and 1963: the extraordinary case of Eugenia Falleni (aka Harry Leo Crawford), one of the most unusual in Australian legal history; and the Bogle–Chandler case, a mystery that baffled investigators for more than 40 years.

October 2025

Catalogues of Lost Dreams
Thursday 23 October

For more than 200 years, house contents have been sold at auction, with catalogues recording every room in remarkable detail. These records reveal stories of taste, fashion and family life, offering a rare glimpse into the city's most magnificent residences.

Join us to uncover these fascinating histories and see original auction catalogues, rare books, photographs and treasures that bring the past vividly to life.

November 2025

An evening with Mark Tedeschi AM KC
Wednesday 26 November

Marking the beginning of a bold new chapter for the Justice & Police Museum, this special event celebrates the launch of the 2025–26 Annual Giving campaign and the unveiling of the first stage of the museum’s transformation, a striking new interpretation of the historic Water Police Station holding cells, reimagined for the first time in more than two decades. The evening features Mark Tedeschi AM KC in conversation with Kim Tao, Head of Curatorial & Research at Museums of History NSW, exploring Mark’s extraordinary career across law, literature, and photography.

February 2024

Hyde Park Barracks compound
Friday 16 February

Join us for an exclusive tour of a special collection and an extraordinary place

Come behind the scenes with curator Michael Lech to discover the Caroline Simpson Library collection storeroom, located in the former judges’ common room in the Hyde Park Barracks compound, followed by an immersive expert guided tour of the Hyde Park Barracks, one of 11 World Heritage listed convict sites. This bespoke tour will focus on the evidence provided by the heritage fabric of the building, the archaeological investigations of the site, and some of its fascinating 20th-century history.

March 2024

State Archives Collection, Kingswood
Thursday 14 March

Join us for an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of our conservation lab and digitisation studio to learn about the processes involved in conserving and digitising our historical State Archives Collection

The State Archives Collection documents the daily work of the NSW Government and its agencies, from 1788 to today. With more than 14 million items, it is the largest collection of records relating to the history of NSW, its environment and the lives of its people.

Our work ensures these records are accessible and available for generations to come. On the tour, you will see our skilled conservators repairing plans, volumes and glass-plate negatives in the conservation lab and our expert technicians at work in the digitisation studio.

Read more about our behind-the-scenes tour

April 2024

Caroline Simpson Library
Friday 19 April

Join us for a bespoke viewing of the Caroline Simpson Collection followed by morning tea

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Caroline Simpson Library, which was established through an extraordinary cultural gift donated by the children of Caroline Simpson OAM (1930-2003). The endowment included furniture, artworks, books and decorative arts from their mother’s collection. A keen collector, Caroline had a passion for colonial history and heritage and an eye for rare and significant material.

This bespoke viewing of rare pictorial material held in the Caroline Simpson Collection relates to the incredible voyage of Rose de Freycinet (1794-1832), the first woman to write an account of a global circumnavigation (1817-1820).

May 2024

Concert at Vaucluse House (Donors only)
Sunday 26 May

Bespoke musical concert, featuring Anna Fraser and Neal Peres Da Costa

In this afternoon performance, musical treasures from the collections of Museums of History NSW will be revealed. Rarities from the domestic musical soundscape of the first half of the 19 century will be presented by Anna Fraser (soprano) and Neal Peres Da Costa (historical piano).

In the elegant drawing room at Vaucluse House, guests will be immersed within the world of the Wentworths and their contemporaries as our performers delight us with their interpretation of a range of musical remnants, many of which are held only at MHNW.

Read more about our musical concert

July 2024

Museum of Sydney
Thursday 25 July

Bespoke curator talk, Coomaditchie: The Art of Place, followed by morning tea

Experience community life by the ocean through the works of First Nations artists in Coomaditchie: The Art of Place at the Museum of Sydney. This exhibition celebrates the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Coomaditchie United Aboriginal Corporation in 1993. The corporation provides support and services to the broader community and to the people of the Commaditchie settlement, located at Coomaditchie Lagoon in the city of Wollongong, the centre of the Illawarra region of NSW.

The loving and lyrical artworks featured in the exhibition, which include paintings, ceramics and screen-prints, speak of life in and around the settlement of Coomaditchie, its history, ecology and local Dreaming stories. This exhibition offers a glimpse into the political, social and artistic activities of a very special place.

September 2024

Elizabeth Bay House
Friday 20 September

Bespoke viewing Macleay Family Library

Join, Dr Jude Philp, Senior Curator of the Macleay Collections at The University of Sydney, to learn about Alexander Macleay’s insect collection and its significance in England and Australia. Dr Philp will explore the collection Macleay brought to Australia in 1826 and discuss how Macleay used his library to inform his work in natural history.

Dr Matthew Stephens, Research Librarian, Museums of History NSW, will share the journey to recover ‘Macleay’s ‘lost library’, which was known as Australia’s finest and most substantial natural history library when put up for auction in 1845.

The presentation will include rare access to insect specimens and books once belonging to the Macleay family.

November 2024

Caroline Simpson Library
Friday 22 November

Join us for a special viewing of Australia’s largest collection of historical wallpaper at the Caroline Simpson Library.

Explore the colours, patterns and textures of wallpaper from the mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries and gain unique insights into how Australians have decorated their homes. These wallpapers illuminate our collective past, reflecting tastes and trends in furnishings and interior décor, as well as helping to interpret the visual world of the past.

Learn about the recent donation to MHNSW of more than 3,000 wallpaper samples from the private collection of architects John and Phyllis Murphy. This remarkable range includes unused rolls, sample books, trade literature and lengths of wallpaper retrieved from historic buildings dating back to the 1850s. Finding even one historical wallpaper in good condition is rare; discovering thousands is truly extraordinary.

December 2024

Museum of Sydney
Thursday 12 December

Join us for a bespoke talk and behind-the-scenes viewing of archaeological finds and artefacts from the site of Australia’s first Government House.

As we approach the 30th anniversary of the Museum of Sydney, built on the site of the first Government House, Museums of History NSW is taking a fresh look at what lies beneath. By applying new perspectives and asking challenging questions of seemingly mundane objects, we can reach a better understanding of a place where worlds collided and were transformed forever.

With over 140,000 artefacts, the collection spans the entire history of the site, from deep time to the original house built in the late 1780s, and even objects from the 1960s and 70s. You will discover how archaeology brings this site to life as we explore Aboriginal and colonial-era artefacts, remains of the building itself, and tangible traces of the events and activities that took place at this potent site.

Read more about our behind-the-scenes viewing

To join our annual giving program or to discuss leaving a bequest please contact our Philanthropy Manager on 02 8239 2273 or via donate@mhnsw.au