Curator talk: Ralph Clark’s First Fleet journal

What was it like to leave the person you love and sail to the other side of the world? What became of the miniature portrait of his wife that Ralph Clark kissed obsessively? And why does his journal contain so many holes where he recounts his dreams of her?

When Clark volunteered to join the First Fleet hoping for promotion, he left behind his beloved wife and their young son. His journal reveals a man of contradictions: ambitious yet sensitive to perceived slights, often anxious and quick to judge, devoted yet unfaithful to his wife. A complex man, Clark found himself at the heart of one of the most profound and consequential events ever experienced on the Australian continent.

Join Louise Anemaat for a fascinating curator talk on Ralph Clark’s deeply personal First Fleet journal.