The lace is one of the biggest mysteries.

The lace is one of the biggest mysteries.
It's an application of muslin couched onto machine made lace.
Lace like this was made in Carrickmacross, Ireland to make work for the poor after the Irish Potato Famine but similar lace was made both in Belgium and elsewhere between the invention of machine made net circa 1810 and later.
The family lace might be Irish but does not have the famous hand made Carrickmacross loop edging but a fine applied machine lace edging which make experts think it is of another origin and have dated it to about 1840 /1850 ish and possibly Continental, possibly even Brussels.
Do you remember my mothers cousin Jenny Brown nee Chesterman though J.N Vlielands the elders 2 sisters were lace makers although the census says French Knitters?
The census said they were from Brussels!
Gran believed it was worn for the first time at the Wedding of J.N. Vlieland and his wife Frances Elizabeth Samworth in 1852.
It is said pomegranate were a symbols of fertility in the Union of a couple.
At the time they were married it could have been used as a shawl or over a strew bonnet, but I am sure you will have fun researching all of this so I have just enclosed you some leads.


So another mysterie to solve ........Let us know if you know more .

wedding in 1860 on a porcelain plate 

silk and handpainted faces.

Today we go back to the embroidery.

One of the top people from the Royal School of Needlework at Hampton Court looked at it (not a photo but the actual embroidery) about ten years ago and the dates she thought would agree with what is in the blog .So 1800-1810.

At Hampton Court they also said it was the fashion of that time for English ladies to work such pictures as a pass time if they were lady's of fashion.

Sometimes bought in kit form and sometimes designed by themselves.

The lady said that she had never seen this design before or so well worked.

She did see this type of thing so very often as a woman draped over an urn to commemorate someone's death. Usually she did not like such things ,but she thought this one to be so well designed and worked she would make it the exception.

It is embroidered on silk with silks in seed and satin stitch but the faces are hand painted.

So we know more about the embroidery.

And now we have to find out who made it.Was it the Samworth family or was it the mother or sisters of Jerome Nicholas Vlieland.

We let you know if we find out more.

Olive Hollingworth Stalisfield Vicarage

Like real detectives we are still on a  needlework hunt.
Maybe the needlework was in the vicarage before Jerome Nicholas Vlieland lived there.
So we searched the records for the previous reverend.

The Reverend Ollive Hollingworth was there from 1840-1858.
His name also written as Oliver or Ollive.

So we searched the internet to look for a connection.

Some newspaperclippings

The Bishop of London has presented the Rev. Olive Hollingworth, M.A., of this college, vicar of Stalisfield, near Faversham, the incumbency of Christchurch, Turnhamgreen.


HOLLINGWORTH— WOOLLS.- June 30, at S». Margaret's, Iver lit atli, Bucks, by the father of the bridegroom, Olive, oldest son of the Rev. Olive Hollingworth, incumbent o. Christ Church, Turnham- 0, to Miiiy Mm tlm, eldest daughter of Edward Woolls, solicitor

West London Observer London, England

27 Apr 1861 THURSDAY

Williams, and describe d himself as tailor, was charged before Mr. Ingham, with endeavouring to obtain money from the Rev. Olive Hollingworth, of Turnham Green, by false representations. The complainant stated that the prisoner came to him on the previous evening.

Ollive Hollingworth
mentioned in the record of Ollive Hollingworth and Mary Martha Woolls
Name Ollive Hollingworth
Spouse's Name Mary Martha Woolls
Event Date 30 Jun 1868
Event Place Iver Heath,Buckingham,England
Father's Name Ollive Hollingworth
Spouse's Father's Name Edward Woolls

Rev. Ollive Hollingworth
Born May 5, 1811 in Boxley, Kent, England
Husband of Frances Bain (Hough) Hollingworth — married January 25, 1838 in Porchester, Nottinghamshire, England
Father of Ollive Hollingworth, Mary Hollingworth, Frances Elizabeth Hollingworth, John Henry Hollingworth, Alice Holbrow Hollingworth, Charles Stuart Scott Hollingworth andFlorence Isabel (Hollingworth) Wilks
Died January 1875 in Battle, Sussex, United Kingdom

Stalisfield, St. Augustine's, Kent, England
Electoral Division
St. Augustine's division (East Kent)

In the Stalisfield graveyardbooks we find.
23. Catherine Annie Hollingsworth who died in infancy and Robert Graham Hollingsworth who died 20th February 1856, children of the Rev. Oliver HOLLINGSWORTH Vicar of this parish and Frances BAIN his wife.


Frances Bain Hollingworth formerly Hough
Born 1818 in Stonehouse, Devon, England
Daughter of [father unknown] and Frances Bain Tracey
Sister of Sarah Jane Hough, George Scott Hough and Mary Elizabeth Catherine Hough
Wife of Ollive Hollingworth — married January 25, 1838 in Porchester, Nottinghamshire, England
Mother of Ollive Hollingworth, Mary Hollingworth, Frances Elizabeth Hollingworth,John Henry Hollingworth, Alice Holbrow Hollingworth, Charles Stuart Scott Hollingworth and Florence Isabel (Hollingworth) Wilks
Died April 9, 1896 in Uxbridge, Middlesex, England

So we have some basic information but no French connection or needle work so far. .

needlework is gobelin

We decided we needed more expertise and send a mail to some very nice lady's who gather to discuss textile and costumes and asked what they could tell us about this needlework .
They replied:
The needlework is a gobelin -embroidered with loop stitches-..
The clothing and the cane hat indicates a timeperiod of 1800-1810.
It is probably made in southern France or northern Spain.
The shrubs are acanthus leaves.
The acanthus symbolizing :life with all the ordeals that have to be overcome.
The fishes symbolizing : plenitude and happiness.
The young couple is up to something........maybe a proposal.

This answer we received from the specialists Mister H.van Kampen of the textile group of the museum who looked at the pictures.We thank him a lot for that !!!!
 Gilly could add even more information .

One of the top people from the Royal School of Needlework at Hampton Court looked at it (not a photo but the actual embroidery) about ten years ago and the dates she thought would agree with what is in the blog .So 1800-1810.
At Hampton Court they also said it was the fashion of that time for English ladies to work such pictures as a pass time if they were lady's of fashion.
Sometimes bought in kit form and sometimes designed by themselves.
The lady said that she had never seen this design before or so well worked.
She did see this type of thing so very often as a woman draped over an urn to commemorate someone's death. Usually she did not like such things ,but she thought this one to be so well designed and worked she would make it the exception.

It is embroidered on silk with silks in seed and satin stitch but the faces are hand painted.
So we know more about the embroidery.
And now we have to find out who made it. Waas it a familymember of the Samworths or was it made Jerome Nicholas Vlieland ´s mother or sisters.

When we know more we let you know.
So we know a lot already but also came up with new questions .
Was this needlework already in the house ?
Was it bought abroad or at an auction?
Did one of the Samworth girls brought it back from their trip abroad?
Did Jerome Nicholas Vlieland buy it when he went to France in 1856?
Was it made by Frances Elisabeths Mother?
It is from 1800-1810 or is that just the pattern?

So we will go on and trying to find out even more.

Anna Mary Howitt

Anna Mary Howitt.

Annie, born January 15, 1824, was the daughter and eldest child of the prolific writing team of William and Mary Howitt.
The couple translated German, French, and Scandinavian literature and wrote fiction, poetry, biographies, travel books, and works for children.
Young Annie grew up in a special household indeed. "Let us," Mary once wrote her sister, "accustom our children to elegant objects as far as our means permit."
William Wordsworth sent Annie copies of his children's poems for her approval when she -was only seven years old.
From 1840 until 1843 the family lived abroad in Germany because the Howitts considered Pestalozzi-inspired German educational methods superior to English models.
The precocious 15-year-old Annie illustrated Hymns and Fireside Verses (1839), one of her parents' most successful books.
Her adult friends included Dante Gabriel and Christina Rossetti, John Ruskin, George Eliot, Charles Dickens, and other prominent Victorian artistic and literary figures.'
In her early twenties Annie became involved with the influential group known as the Pre-Raphaelites. The Pre-Raphaelite "Brotherhood," founded by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Millais, and William Holman Hunt, rejected the formal and unimaginative style of the Royal Academy school of painting, where a common practice consisted of copying old masters.

In Hastings Barbara Leigh-Smith also met Anna Howitt and her children; Eliza Fox Bridell; Gertrude Jekyll; Marianne North, whose father was one of the two Hastings' MPs; Miss Bayley of 2 Holloway Place; and Ann Samworth and her children, who lived at Brooklands Cottage, Holloway place, Old London roadIn 1850 Bessie Parkes introduced Barbara to her cousin, the first woman physician, Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell. However, Barbara's cousin Florence Nightingale snubbed her Uncle Ben's illegitimate offspring.As young women of 21 and 23, Bessie and Barbara were, most unusually, allowed to go unchaperoned on a walking tour of Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, visiting Mary Howitt in Munich.
The three discussed women's inferior status and wanted to change it.
But men held all political power and would fight to preserve the system which served their interests so well.
The two did, however, indulge in a little personal liberation.
Female costume at the time was uncomfortable, impractical and restrictive.
They abandoned their corsets and shortened their skirts, prompting Barbara to pen the lines:

Oh! Isn't it jolly
To cast away folly
And cut all one's clothes a peg shorter
(A good many pegs)
And rejoice in one's legs
Like a free-minded Albion's daughter.

March 12, 2012, by H Cotterill

“Will you come into my parlour?” said the Spider to the Fly,

‘Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy;

So begins the famous children’s poem, ‘The Spider and the Fly’. This is just one of the many poems and stories written by the celebrated Victorian author Mary Howitt whose collection of family correspondence is held in Manuscripts and Special Collections.

The Howitts certainly encountered their fair share of ‘spiders’, with one such encounter leading to a 19th century case of identity theft. In a letter to her sister Anna, Mary Howitt describes how she and her husband William had befriended a young couple only to discover that the husband was writing begging letters in Mary’s name. He managed to collect several hundred pounds before the fraud was discovered and he disappeared.

The Howitts certainly encountered their fair share of ‘spiders’, with one such encounter leading to a 19th century case of identity theft. In a letter to her sister Anna, Mary Howitt describes how she and her husband William had befriended a young couple only to discover that the husband was writing begging letters in Mary’s name. He managed to collect several hundred pounds before the fraud was discovered and he disappeared.

The Howitt correspondence collection contains many such stories and personal anecdotes and offers a fascinating insight into the lives of a middle class family in the nineteenth century. Correspondents include Mary Howitt, her sisters Anna Harrison and Emma Alderson and Anna’s daughter Anna Mary. With the majority of the letters being sent to and from women the correspondence inevitably touches on domestic issues, including the raising of children, as well as on the role of women themselves. There are a fascinating series of letters written by Mary’s sister Emma Alderson. Emma emigrated to America with her husband in 1842, settling in Cincinatti Ohio. Emma wrote regularly to her family in England and her letters offer an insight into life in America in the decades immediately prior to the American Civil War. Other key themes in the letters include spiritualism and religion, health and horticulture. The letters also provide evidence about the literary careers of Mary and her husband William who also worked as a writer.

The image above shows an example of a crossed letter from the collection. Until the introduction of the Penny Post in 1840 the cost of posting was affected by the number of sheets of paper used. Using two sheets of paper doubled the cost. To avoid this people ‘crossed’ their letters, filling a sheet of paper and then turning the page at right angles to continue writing.

The catalogue to the Howitt correspondence collection is available to view online. The collection contains just over 1200 letters. Of these 1200 approximately 400 have been catalogued in full. The remaining 800 require further cataloguing work, to provide a summary of the letters’ contents, but are fully searchable by correspondent and

The catalogue to the Howitt correspondence collection is available to view online. The collection contains just over 1200 letters. Of these 1200 approximately 400 have been catalogued in full. The remaining 800 require further cataloguing work, to provide a summary of the letters’ contents, but are fully searchable by correspondent and date. The collection was purchased with help from the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Other material relating to the Howitts can be found elsewhere in the archive. The Briggs collection of Literary Papers and Correspondence from the Sutton Family contains a series of letters written by Mary and William Howitt and their daughter Margaret to William and Eliza Oldham nee Sutton. The Briggs collection is fully catalogued and the catalogue can be viewedonline. There is also a collection of books written by Mary and William Howitt held in Special Collections. These can be searched for using the library catalogue athttp://aleph.nottingham.ac.uk/F

All of the manuscripts and books mentioned above are available to view in the Manuscripts and Special collections reading room at King’s Meadow Campus.T

There is a lot written about Anna Maria Howitt.also in connection with the Leigh -Smith and Samworth girls.

a tale of two artists.

and all this to find out more about " the Needlework ".

The detective and the needlework

First of all we have to look at the needlework.



facts

• We see a sweet couple with fish under a tree.
• We know it excisted already in 1877.
• It was in the vicarage in Stalisfield owned by Jerome Nicholas Vlieland.

The we wonder if it was there could it be made by his wife .

His second wife was Frances Elisabeth Samworth.

Frances grew up as daughter of John Samworth and lived on Clive Dale farm and Brookland.

She and her sisters were friends with the Leigh-Smith children that lived nearby.

One of them was Barbara Leigh -Smith after her marriage Bodichon.

She painted a painting "cornfield after the storm" which was the cornfield of the Samworths as she wrote in a letter.

Another part of the Samworth garden is also painted .This time by Holman Hunt

He was a friend of the family and often stayed in the Leigh -Smith house together with Thomas Woolner

 and Dante Gabriel Rossetti
So could the needlework be situated in Hastings .
We know they found the fishmarket there very inspiring.

The Leigh -Smith and Samworth girls also went to Europe together  to study painting and art which was not very common in those days.
So is the needlework from France or Italy?

It is amazing how many interesting people the Samworth girls  have met when they were young .

They also met the Howitt girls .
So I have to find their paintings to see if there is something in it.

And al this research is just to find if we kind find the same kind of figures in their painting and if the clothes match the time in which they were painting.
So far the reasearch for today.

For now it seems different .
It is from 1800-1810 so it is much older.

The needlework is a gobelin ,embroidered with loop stitches.

The clothing and the cane hat indicates a timeperiod of 1800-1810.

It is probably made in southern France or northern Spain.

The shrubs are acanthus leaves.

The acanthus symbolizing :life with all the ordeals that have to be overcome.

The fishes symbolizing : plenitude and happiness.

The young couple is up to something........maybe a proposal.

Needlework fisherman

In the cataloque of the auction at the Stalisfield vicarage in 1877 we find a needlework of a fisherman.

Thanks to Gilly we can all admire it and search for more information.
An embroidered picture of a young fisherman dated about 1820 and possibly worked by Elizabeth Frances Samworth or one of her family

We see a sweet couple under a tree .

We do not know who they are or where they  from or how old it is .
But there must be a clue somewhere.
I am searching allready!
So let us know if you can tell us more .

thanks to "kap en Dek "
We know a lot more.

The needlework is a gobelin ,embroidered with loop stitches.

The clothing and the cane hat indicates a timeperiod of 1800-1810.

It is probably made in southern France or northern Spain.

The shrubs are acanthus leaves.

The acanthus symbolizing :life with all the ordeals that have to be overcome.

The fishes symbolizing : plenitude and happiness.

The young couple is up to something........maybe a proposal.

The Queen's 90 years in 90 pictures

We always enjoy celebrating with the Royal Family.
So we will eat our own lunch today while watching lots of people eating in their Patrons Lunch in the Mall today on television.

Charles Archibald

From Hollow Heroes 

Exclusive

Today you can explore the roots of our famly by reading a glossy.
I think that if J.N.Vlieland was still alive today,he would have had an interview or advertise himself as teacher of languages  in this magazine .

Haco Dobson

I have a Dutch newspaper article of March 25th 1918.
It says that at Zandvoort beach in The Netherlands the body was found of probably a British sailor.
On his belt is the name H. Dobson and also 3161.
I also have a list with casualties who were transported to Noordwijk, for reburial at a CWGC/IWGC cemetery.
One of them is a person who was transported from Zandvoort Cemetery. His name is W.E. Dobson and the list also shows R.N. 3161.
This W.E. Dobson was first buried in Zandvoort Cemetery on March 27 1918.
So H. and W.E. Dobson are the same.

The only problem is that on Noordwijk Cemetery there is no grave with the name Dobson.
And the find a grave site of CWGC does not show a Dobson buried in The Netherlands.

My question: who is Dobson, W.E. or H., 3161?

This was the question Mark Sijlmans asked and solved .
After almost a 100 year .It is now confirmed that it is Haco Dobson who is buried in Noordwijk.

On the fifth of July there will be a special ceremony in which a new tomstone with his name will be placed at the cemetery in Noordwijk

The man who was buried beside him was William Edward Parker .

The initials were given to H.Dobson so finally the research had a happy ending 

St Magnus church Kirkwall

David Cameron, Nicola Sturgeon and Princess Anne have joined descendants of those who fought at the battle of Jutland for a centenary service to remember the thousands who died in the largest naval battle of the first world war.

British and German military bands played and crowds lined the street as the British prime minister arrived at St Magnus Cathedral on Orkney, with Scotland’s first minister.

It is 100 years to the day since British and German ships engaged in a 36-hour conflict off the coast of Denmark, that led to devastating losses and changed the course of the war.
St.Magnuscathedral Kirkwall Orkney in 2012  when we there .

Same pipers as yesterday at the Remembrance of the battle of Jutland.