New additions to Winterbourne’s collections come to us in a fascinating variety of ways. Often, individuals generously donate family heirlooms and precious items they have discovered in their own homes and think may be of some historical interest to Winterbourne. But sometimes, I stumble across things in my own life that strike me as having an interesting story to tell. Most recently I discovered some charity shop treasures that help to tell a story of Edwardian family life…

Last month I popped into my local Oxfam shop, as I usually do at the weekend. I was actually on the lookout for a new top, but I came out with a huge bag of Edwardian children’s clothes and a kangaroo. 

The kangaroo, I confess, was for me! The children’s clothes, on the other hand, were perfect for our collection here at Winterbourne. As soon as I looked into the bag, I could see that the items were of beautiful quality. Over the last few weeks, archives volunteers have been sorting through the clothes and cataloguing them. They include several long christening robes, heavily decorated with lace. Christening robes were often used multiple times, for siblings and even subsequent generations, so these robes have survived in remarkably good condition. There are also dresses for slightly older children, and even a couple of undergarments. 

By the Edwardian period, mass-produced lace and embroidered edging panels were readily available, and it looks as though many of these dresses were constructed with shop-bought lace using a sewing machine. Most of them fasten at the back with tiny mother-of-pearl or fabric-covered buttons, and some have tapes as well.

We don’t know who originally made or owned these clothes, but we can be certain that the Nettlefold children would have been dressed in very similar items. I hope to be able to display some of them soon, so look out for them in the Nursery!

Henrietta Lockhart
Curator