and installation of this exhibition was granted. Stage three of the design was an exhibition in the south east room of the Museum. The title of this exhibition is People and the Law and it was designed to look at the human experience behind the law in the early days of Western Australia. This room looks at the personal stories of those involved with the law, both from the perspective of those behind the bench and those brought before it. Displayed in this room is the leather fitted dressing case used by Sir Stephen Henry Parker on his travels. Covered in luggage labels, this case travelled with Parker on his official visits to England, first in 1890, leading a delegation to argue for self-government for Western Australia and again in 1900 when he represented Western Australia’s interests during the passing of the Commonwealth bill.3 The exhibition is also very popular with children who have the opportunity to try using some of the objects on the touch table. To date, the most popular is the typewriter! In 2016, the Museum received funding from Lotterywest that will enable it to complete the vision first conceived in 2009. During January and February 2017, the exhibitions in the entrance area
and the north east room of the Old Court House will be completely refurbished. Visitors entering the Museum will be welcomed in the language of the Whadjuk people in a beautiful sentiment written by Noongar elder Marie Taylor. Inside the entrance, visitors will see the robes worn by the judiciary in the early 1900s and the jury barrel, used to select jurors before the days of electronic balloting. The exhibition in the north east room of the building looks at some of laws which applied to Western Australians living during the 1900s. The exhibition, entitled From Past to Present: The changing face of the law in Western Australia, is introduced by a quote from Senator the Hon Rosemary Crowley: “…we cannot accurately know our present if we do not know our past”.4 The stories told in this room look at the way our history has shaped the law we use today and is designed to bring context and meaning to the historical displays in the previous rooms. Visitors should leave the Museum with an understanding of how the history of the law has evolved to the complex system of law used today and how it is relevant to modern day living. It has been a nine year journey, but the
Old Court House Law Museum now offers visitors an engaging space which encourages discussion and reflection in line with modern museological practice. It is not uncommon to find a visitor moved to tears or anger by a particular story or exhibit or to hear the comment “I never thought of that before!” It is now truly a space which reflects the Museum’s statement of purpose to connect people to the law of Western Australia and to inspire reflective discussion. Perhaps the end result might best be summed up by one visitors comment in 2016: “A fascinating insight into both justice and injustice”. NOTES: 1.
Brian Shepherd, Alan Muller Design & Latitude Creative Services, Interpretation and Design plan: The Old Court House Law Museum law Society of Western Australia, Old Court House Law Museum, 2010, p. 6.
2.
Brian Shepherd, Alan Muller Design & Latitude Creative Services, Interpretation and Design plan: The Old Court House Law Museum Law Society of Western Australia, Old Court House Law Museum, 2010, p. 34.
3.
Wendy Birman & Geoffrey C. Bolton, 'Parker, Sir Stephen Henry (1846–1927)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ parker-sir-stephen-henry-7957/text13853, published first in hardcopy 1988, accessed online 16 November 2016.
4.
Rosemary Crowley, Images of Women, Women and Museums Conference Proceedings, 11-13 October 1993.
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