Will Power: Bequests and Culture in Australia

Abstract

Bequests — the giving of money or possessions after a person’s death — have been at the heart of public cultural enterprise in Australia since the late nineteenth century. Motivated by altruism, obligation, egoism or combinations thereof, bequests are an expression of the values a donor has developed throughout their lifetime and aspirations for a legacy after their death. In this research I examine six donors who offered substantial bequests to cultural institutions to increase the understanding and practice of art and culture. I focus on the wills of donors and philanthropists in Australia between 1904 and 2011 to establish the influence that private donors have historically exerted over the public experience of culture. I also set out to track the history of whether, and how, a bequest could be lastingly fulfilled in the spirit of the gift but in alignment with the values and goals of a receiving institution in a changing cultural environment. I studied the lives of the donors through a biographical lens to understand the values, priorities and philanthropic capacity that developed throughout their lives. Archival texts offered signs of the motivations and aspirations behind their donations and gifts, and I parsed the relevant words in each will to ascertain the expectations enshrined in their bequests. Lastly, I analysed each testator’s legacy that flowed from their postmortem gifts, all of which built on the patronage they had practised during their lives. This research considers the people, their gifts and the legacies of their generosity over time to better understand the significant and often contested place of cultural endowment in Australia. By focusing on the benefactors, the beneficiaries and their bequests, I have expanded our understanding of the impact and influence of philanthropy on the institutions that benefited and on the shaping of arts and culture in Australia.