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Australian dress register ID:
191 -
Owner:
Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery and Museum -
Date range:
1880 - 1900 -
Place of origin:
Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia -
Gender:
Female
Object information
Significance statement
This garment is significant as it is part of 100 piece collection of clothes that belonged to the Bayldon family who were important members of Coffs Harbour society from 1870 to the present day.
The Bayldons were a very important family in the history of the Sawtell and Toormina region of New South Wales, just South of Coffs Harbour and this is remembered even today. When the local council established a new housing estate near Sawtell it was called Bayldon in William Bayldon's memory but in later years it was incorporated into Toormina. As well as this a local primary school in Toormina is called the William Bayldon Public School.
The size of the collection also makes it significant, with well over 100 pieces covering underwear, skirt, blouses, jackets, hats, scarves, and accessories. It is rare to have so many garments belonging to one family and to be in such good condition.
Another significant point is that the collection has been handed down through the generations. Cheryl Dal Pozzo, who donated the items to the Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery and Museum, inherited the clothes from her aunt Nancy and she inherited the clothes from her grandmother, who had collected them from her sisters. Author: Cheryl dal Pozzo, 3rd November 2009.
Description
V-neck front opening jacket with long sleeves with folded back cuffs edged in brown velvet. There is a collar edged with brown velvet shaped to points at the centre front. The jacket has some lining and tape ties.
When the jacket is worn closed there is an extended strip from the right side across to pass under the flap on the left side at waist level. There are glass buttons as decorative points only over press studs. each flap on either side of the centre front has a self-covered button for decoration.
The full skirt is eased to fit the waistband with a side opening and hook and eye closure. There are brown velvet inserts in areas on the skirt - one triangular at the centre back hem and one the length of the front that has four groups of small two-tone fabric covered buttons ornamenting it.
There is a 25mm. tuck in the centre front seam that indicates the garment was altered by a later wearer.
History and Provenance
Births, deaths, marriages, children or family information
Transcripts of the death certificates of Elizabeth Bayldon (1899), William Bayldon (1900), Mary Grace Bayldon (1925) and E.K.V. Bayldon (1941)
Eliza Matilda Bayldon nee Leamon (1819? - 1899)
William Edward Bayldon (1818-1900)
Annie Amy Fisher nee Bayldon (1841-1921)
Charles William Edward Bayldon (1843?-??)
Mary Grace Bayldon (1846?-1925)
John Louis Phillip Bayldon (1847?-??)
James Joseph Bayldon (1850-??)
Beatrice Marx nee Bayldon (1851-??)
Lavinia Hennings nee Bayldon (1851-??)
Elizabeth CatherineValentine (1853?-1941)
Emily Whaites nee Bayldon (1855-1943)
Do you have any stories or community information associated with this?
Eliza and William Bayldon's children were: Annie Amy, Charles William, Mary Grace, Jonothan Louis, James Joseph, Beatrice & Lavinia (twins), Eliza Catherine and Emily.
By 1858 William decided to move his family to a 100 acre farm at Ulmarra near Grafton where he raised cattle and high quality stock horses. In 1864 he moved his family with their possessions, including one of the region's first pianos, to land just below Boat Harbour (now Bellingen). William was a JP in the early 1870s.
At some point after 1870, following a series of attacks on his property by local Indigenous people, William, Eliza and some of the children (now adults) moved back to Sydney.
An area near Sawtell was named "Bayldon" in his memory and the local primary school is called the William Bayldon Public School.
Their youngest daughter Emily did her nurses training at the Lucy Osborne Nightingale Hospital in Sydney, but on the 24th February 1885 she married a William John Whaites, a widower and a shipping pilot, who had one young son. William was given a post on the Nambucca River and Emily's nurses training would have been of help to her husband and the people of the Nambucca, as in his role of pilot William was called on by people in need of medical and dental assistance. Emily and William had four sons and one daughter all born on the Nambucca.
How does this garment relate to the wider historical context?
It is not known who originally wore the dresses in this collection, but they all belonged to either Eliza Bayldon (died in 1899) or her daughters Annie Amy (1841-1921), Mary Grace (died in 1925), Beatrice, Lavinia, Eliza Catherine Valentine (died in 1941), or Emily (1855-1943).
Eliza first came to South Australia in 1838 with her first husband. She married William Bayldon in 1840 in Adelaide, where their first daughter Annie was born in 1841. William then sold his business and moved his family back to England. For many reasons, including the economic boom precipitated by the discovery of gold in Australia, William and Eliza decided to move back in the hope of a better life for their family. While they were in Sydney their ninth child Emily was born in 1855.
Eliza's six daughters grew to adulthood. Annie, her eldest, married Hurtle Fisher who is known as the "Father of Victorian Thoroughbreds". Beatrice married Eugene Theophil Marx and Lavinia married Henry Hennings. Mary and Eliza Catherine Valentine, who both lived long lives, never married. Eliza's youngest daughter Emily trained as a nurse and used her skills to assist her husband William Whaites who was a pilot on the Nambucca River.
When Whaites retired he and Emily moved to Burwood and following his death Emily cared for her older sister Eliza. It is probable that it was during this period that Emily acquired clothes that once belonged to her mother and sisters as well as other items of family memorabilia.
Where did this information come from?
Family history as told to Cheryl dal Pozzo (great granddaughter of Emily Bayldon)
This garment has been exhibited
This garment was exhibited along with the others in the collection by the Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery and Museum. Many descendants of the original owners attended the exhibition.
Place of origin:
Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia
Owned by:
Female member of the Bayldon family
Emily Whaites nee Bayldon (from unknown date until 1943)
Nancy Sewell, Whaites' granddaughter (from 1943)
Cheryl Dal Pozzo, Sewell's niece
Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery and Museum
Worn by:
Female members of the Bayldon family
Place:
Coffs Harbour & District
Made by:
Probably home made
Trimmings / Decoration
Fabric covered buttons on jacket flaps and skirt.
Small glass buttons on front of jacket for trimming.
Brown velvet trimming and inserts on skirt
Fastenings
Press studs under ornamental buttons used on jacket
- Hook and eye
- Lacing
- Buttons
- Zip
- Drawstring
Measurements
| jacket | skirt | |
|---|---|---|
| Girth | ||
| Waist | 720 mm | 690 mm |
| Hem circumference | 2390 mm | |
| Vertical | ||
| Front neck to hem | 340 mm | |
| Back neck to hem | 650 mm | |
| Sleeve length | 530 mm | |
| Horizontal | ||
| Neck to sleeve head | 110 mm | |
| Convert to inches | ||
Jacket:Length of neckline (including V shaping): 630 mm
Collar width: 75 mm
Centre back neckline to waist: 310 mm
Centre front neckline to waist: 220 mm
Underarm sleeve to wrist: 405 mm
Skirt: Side seam: 940 mm
Additional material
Articles, publications, diagrams and receipts descriptions
Newspaper article Coffs Coast Advocate Nov. 19, 2005: 'Bayldon Historical Roots Grow Deep'
Other related objects
A complete collection of objects including underwear, nightwear, blouses, jackets, hats, skirts, camisoles, scarves, wraps and dresses. Some of the underwear is embroidered with the initials E.C.V.(Eliza Catherine Valentine Bayldon)
There are also handbags, a calling card holder and the top hat worn by William Bayldon when he was a JP. This was kept wrapped in a silk scarf in an oval metal hat box.
There is also one child's dress.
There are photographic portraits of Eliza and William Bayldon hanging in the foyer of William Bayldon Public School.
Condition
Evidence of repairs
Velvet shows signs of wear and is faded. There are stains on both the jacket and skirt.
State
- Excellent
- Good
- Fair
- Poor
Damage
- Fading
- Stained
- Worn