Hi
As the list is quiet at the moment I thought I would tell everyone about a good
day I had this week.
I am helping to catalogue the Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth lace collection at
Gawthorpe Hall in Padiham (Lancashire). I had only one item to finish in the
box I was doing and Gilly said she had a box that needed doing straight away.
What a treat! The box contained a Bucks Point court train made for Caroline,
wife of the III Duke of Buckingham. In the box were some letters from the
family telling about the lace and a large photograph of the lace draped round a
wooden dummy at the International Health Exhibition of 1884. There was also a
stole made to go with the train.
The train was always draped round a plain dress so that the beauty of the lace
could be seen. In the design was worked the coronet and family insignia and
great floral swags.
A letter told of all the female family members wearing the train when they were
presented at court. They would have the train wound round the arm and as they
approached the king and queen they would drop it to the floor so that it flowed
behind them until they had got past and then they would re wind it onto the
arm. I enjoyed being able to examine all these things in detail.
At the moment the Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth collection is unavailable to be
viewed because it is being catalogued. They have received a lottery grant to
help get all the items in the collection catalogued. All the quilts have been
done and there is now a CD on sale with pictures of the quilts. It is hoped to
have everything done by October 2005. The house is open to the public between
Easter and the end of October each year and there are a few rooms with some of
Rachel’s collection on display. Please do not try to see the collection yet
because it is unavailable and there are very few people doing the job. They get
upset at having to turn people away but it must be finished.
If anyone is interested in hearing more from time to time I can keep you
informed.
Dianne Derbyshire
Preston
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