A new exhibition at the Gawler Heritage Gallery celebrating the threads that connect generations.

Welcome the tender beginnings of new life, traverse the joyous celebrations of love and union, bravely confront the reality of mortality, life’s inevitable conclusion.

Learn about the realities of nineteenth century childbirth with high infant and maternal deathrates. Explore how love and the law have intersected in South Australia since 1837 and the limited legal rights to property and guardianship of children for women. Examine the recent archeological finds excavated from Gawler’s pioneer cemetery and marvel at the innovative contraptions invented to ensure that people were not buried alive, a very real fear of the nineteenth century.

Our new exhibition is an opportunity to delve into the realities of ‘hatch, match and dispatch’ in South Australia over the last 180 years.