Women's stories

Ellen Marshall’s kitchen dresser

(Re)making a home

An evocative collection of household items belonging to the last tenants of Susannah Place

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On This Day

10 Sep 1823 - escapee re-transported to NSW

On the 10th of September 1823 Susan Courtney was tried in England for returning from transportation

Two women seated on simple bed in dormitory style display holding large book.

40,000 women and the dormitory experience

It’s well known that 2253 Irish orphan girls were some of the first occupants of Sydney’s Female Immigration Depot, but they were only just the beginning of the women’s story at Hyde Park Barracks

Handpainted image from book of woman in canoe. Margins of page visible on left and right.
First Nations

A fisher woman of Warrane

Daringa’s short but fascinating life reflects the connection of coastal Aboriginal peoples to the water, and the key role played by women in the fishing economy

Sepia toned photo of Meroogal house exterior with three figures behind fence.

A home of their own

A young woman of the Victorian era, Tot Thorburn had suitors and male friends but chose not to marry. She enjoyed a long and happy life with her sisters at Meroogal

A manuscript cookbook from Meroogal

Cooking was an integral part of the rhythm of life for the family at Meroogal, near Nowra on the south coast of New South Wales

Celluloid doll wearing garment pinned with variety of patriotic badges.
WW1

A patriotic fundraising memento

This tiny celluloid doll, just 10 centimetres in height and clothed in panels of ribbon, is showing her age

Anglo-Indian Workbox

This workbox was a much loved personal home accessory of Anna Elizabeth Walker, the daughter of settler and explorer John Blaxland

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Baubles, brooches & beads

We wear jewellery as articles of dress and fashion and for sentimental reasons – as tokens of love, as symbols of mourning, as souvenirs of travel