'Born in 1869 in Goulburn, New South Wales, Mary was the second of eight children born to Edward and Emily Twynam. Mary married James Cunningham in 1889 and they lived in the Canberra region from the late 1800s. Her life, spanning the last 30 years of the old century, and the first 30 years of the new, was bound up with some of the great stories of early nationhood. 'The prosperity brought by wool, the arrival of Federation, the imperial enthusiasms of the Edwardian era, the creation of the national capital, and the sorrows and losses of the Great War are all events that occurred during Mary's lifetime. 'This biography draws upon both the public record and private correspondence to reveal Mary Cunningham as a sensitive and thoughtful woman, struggling to find a sense of purpose and value in her life at time of great social change.' (Publication summary)
