Mary Morton Allport: A Life and Legacy Revealed

Visitors to the State Library and Archives Tasmania may be familiar with the Allport Gallery and Museum of Fine Arts.

But what do you know about the Allport family whose bequest created it?

Allport matriarch Mary Morton Allport (1806–1895), is one of Tasmania’s most accomplished and intellectually vibrant colonial figures.

Dr Ian Broinowski traces Mary’s life through her art, journals, botanical studies, and correspondence. He spent four years researching her in the Tasmanian State Library and Archives.

He reveals a woman of formidable talent, curiosity, and emotional depth.

She was a pioneering professional artist and early printmaker.

And she was the first woman admitted to the Royal Society of Tasmania. She has left an extraordinary creative and scientific legacy.

Her inner life was shaped by literature, music, faith, joy, and profound personal loss. It is brought into focus with Dr Broinowski's new work Mary Morton Allport, a life reflected through art.

Poet Liz McQuilkin will read some of Mary's work throughout this presentation.

This presentation invites lovers of history, art, and literature to encounter a life that resonates well beyond its time.

Content note: This presentation includes references to the loss of children, which may be distressing for some attendees.

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