Wedding dress handed down through five generations
Tricia Jamieson has tears in her eyes as she recounts the story of her great-great-grandmother’s royal blue wedding dress.
But this isn’t just a story – she is wearing the bridal outfit that Ann Chambers sewed for her marriage to William Ward nearly 150 years ago.
‘‘Two years later she died in childbirth, having a daughter,’’ Jamieson says. ‘‘I think the amazing thing is that he hung on to the dress.’’
In 1874, Ann, who was a maid, married William Ward, the butler of the house where she worked in England.
Clearly Ann was held in some regard, because her employer provided the royal blue satin, velvet and lace that she stitched together into a dress that remains a showstopper even after all these years.
The dress has long sleeves trimmed with handmade lace, now a little yellowed due to its age – 147 years.
It has some stiffening in the shoulders and bodice, and a ruched bustle on the back.
The hem on the skirt has been shortened from the original bridal train.
As butler to Lord Shaftesbury and Sir Cecil Ashley, her husband was also held in high esteem, according to research by Jamieson’s mother, Barbara Halse.
‘‘Letters signed by Lord Shaftesbury say that William was
his faithful footman and butler for 17 years,’’ Jamieson says.
‘‘Sometimes he was loaned to King Edward VII [then Prince of Wales] when he went off surreptitiously with Lillie Langtry [his mistress, a famous actress].’’
The story goes that after Ann’s death, three-day-old baby Annie Lucy Ward was taken by her father in a rowboat across the Thames, then by train from London to Nottingham, accompanying Ann’s body to her burial at Greasley Church, Nottingham, on Christmas Day. Ann’s grieving husband saved the wedding dress to give to their daughter.
‘‘That was quite sentimental, really,’’ Jamieson says.
‘‘Their daughter was my greatgrandmother, and it has been
passed down through the family. Her daughter passed it to her daughter, then in the next generation there was only one daughter, my mum.’’
Barbara brought the dress to New Zealand when the family emigrated in the 1970s. ‘‘It must have been prized enough to bring with us,’’ Jamieson says.
It was not until the 1900s that white became fashionable for bridal gowns.
In a photo of the dress being worn in 1973 by Barbara Halse, it has a pretty white lace fichu (small triangular shawl) draped around the shoulders, but this is missing now.
Jamieson was about 10 when her mother gave her the dress.
‘‘My mother used to dress up in it when she was a girl, which is strange. They lived on a farm in Devon and I don’t think they had many fancy things,’’ Jamieson says.
She didn’t allow her own children the same privilege.
‘‘I keep it in a box wrapped in tissue, it’s just too delicate, it’s nearly 150 years old. It has only been worn a handful of times in the last 50 years.’’
However, the dress fits her well, and she recently donned it for a Shakespeare festival in Stratford’s Prospero Place.
The question of who will inherit the heirloom dress next remains unanswered, as Tricia and her husband Alan have two daughters.
‘‘One says she’s the eldest and the other says she is the favourite,’’ she laughs.