Summary

Alternative Name(s): Cap

Headpiece - mauve velvet and lace over a wire frame. Hand-made by Ellen Webb (1836-1924). Ellen lived a genteel life at Melville, 32 Middle Crescent Brighton, in her later life, making handcrafts such as this headpiece. She was born in Norfolk, England, the daughter of an agricultural labourer, and went into service as a maid. In 1856 she married her cousin Thomas Webb, an Australian settler, who returned from Australia to marry her. Thomas had done well on the goldfields, and used his earnings to buy a half-share in a schooner. During his visit to England he became qualified as a ship's captain, and later became wealthy as a shipping company director. Thomas and Ellen returned to Australia and had eight children. Thomas died at the age of 68, in 1898, and Ellen outlived him for many years. She died at the age of 88, in 1924.

Physical Description

Headpiece of mauve/pink velvet and lace. Frame of the headpiece is a wire triangle, wrapped with purple velvet with black velvet insert. Two velvet 'petals' extend out from the frame, one with wire edge to hold its shape, and white beads spotted on surface (one now detached). Purple ribbon and cream lace are gathered and stitched onto frame around velvet. Two clusters of cream beads and two beaded pins complete the headpiece.

Significance

Historical Background:

Part of an eclectic collection that includes ephemera accumulated by the donor's family over the past 100 or so years, as well as provenanced items relating to Ellen Webb and Stanley Hammond, her son-in-law. Ellen Webb was born in Norfolk, England, in 1836, the daughter of an agricultural labourer. At the age of 12 she went into service as a maid. At the age of 20, in 1856, she married her cousin Thomas Webb, by then an Australian settler, who had returned from Australia to marry her. Thomas had done well on the goldfields, and used his earnings to buy a half-share in a schooner. During his visit to England he became qualified as a ship's captain. Captain Webb later became one of the first directors of the shipping company Huddart Parker, and became a rich man.

Thomas and Ellen returned to Australia and lived in Emerald Hill, then in Geelong, and finally at Melville, 32 Middle Crescent Brighton, where they both spent the rest of their days in genteel comfort. Thomas died at the age of 68, in 1898. Ellen outlived him by many years, and was remembered to dress in an old-fashioned manner in later life. She enjoyed handcrafts such as making headpieces. She died at the age of 88, in 1924.

One of their eight children, Ivie Constance, born in 1879, married a neighbour's son, Stanley Hammond (also from Middle Crescent, Brighton). Stanley had attended Melbourne Grammar School, played cricket and tennis, and became a long-term player and official of the Brighton Cricket Club. He went to the Boer War 1900-1901 as a Trooper in 3rd Victorian Contingent, and in 1906 married Ivie. They lived at Carinya in Kensington Road, South Yarra and then at Coonac in Clendon Road, Toorak. They had four daughters: Claire, Joyce, Patricia and Susan. Stanley became a director of British Tobacco Co. (Aust.) Ltd, British-Australasian Tobacco, Co. Pty Ltd; States Tobacco Co. (Aust.) Ltd; and W.D. & H.O. Wills (Aust.) Ltd, Melbourne. Stanley belonged to the Bohemian Club and subsequently The Melbourne Club, and to the Melbourne Cricket Club. He was a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries. Ivie died in 1933; Stanley kept working, but retired in 1941. During World War II Coonac was requisitioned by the government for the use of the WAAAFs (Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force). By this time his daughters had all married and Stanley moved to Trawalla, a boarding house in Toorak. When Trawalla was sold he moved to the Melbourne Club, where he lived until his death in 1958.

Thomas and Ellen's great grand-daughter is the donor of the collection.

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