Curator Talk for Marriage: Love + Law

Join Curator Dr Penelope (Penny) Stannard as she talks about the NSW State Archives Exhibition Marriage: Love + Law, currently on display in the Margaret Whitlam Galleries at the Whitlam Institute.

Penny will provide us with insights into the exhibition and how the materials came together to form this remarkable look into our legal relationship with such a personal institution. The stories behind the exhibition include that of the remarkable Maria Locke - an Aboriginal woman sent as a child from her family to the 'Native Institution' in Parramatta in exchange for rum and promises of land. Maria would go on to be not only one of the first Aboriginal land owners, but had the first recorded marriage between a European and Aboriginal settler. In 1824 she married convict Robert Locke, whose status was changed and rather than being bound to a master to serve out his sentence, he was instead bound to a mistress - his wife Maria.

Drinks and light refreshments will be served after the event. Numbers are strictly limited.

This event takes place on a Whitlam Institute Open Day. As a result, our historical home The Female Orphan School will also be open to be explored, with our wonderful volunteers available to take you on a tour of what is Australia’s oldest three-storey building.

In addition, our gallery spaces including the Margaret Whitlam Galleries which is currently hosting the Marriage: Love and Law will of course be open, as will our ongoing exhibition A Changing Australia: The Time of Gough Whitlam. Both exhibitions and tours of the building are available from 11am.

Dr Penelope (Penny) Stannard has held a number of senior-level roles in government with responsibility for the arts/culture portfolio, spanning venues, sites, landscapes and collections. As Senior Curator, Exhibitions, at NSW State Archives, she leads the curatorial interpretation of the State Archives Collection—one of Australia’s most significant cultural holdings—and the delivery of knowledge through onsite, off-site and online platforms incorporating exhibitions, publications and visitor experiences. Penny has substantial non-executive director experience of publicly funded arts companies and has served on NSW and Australian Government arts funding and advisory committees. Penny holds a PhD from the University of Technology Sydney.