Provenance

The basket embroidery was given as a gift to Lady Jane Franklin (1791–1875) by Queen’s Orphan School orphans in 1838. It was presented to the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery by Miss Ursula Lefroy in 1968. She had received the sampler from Miss Louisa Lefroy (d. 1953), a niece of Sophia Cracroft (1816–92). Sophia Cracroft was the niece of Sir John Franklin (1786–1847) and also Lady Franklin’s long-term companion in Tasmania and elsewhere.

History

The King’s Boy’s and Girl’s Orphan Schools were originally established at a number temporary locations throughout Hobart from 1828. The first purpose built orphanage, now known as the Queen’s Orphan schools, was designed by colonial architect John Lee Archer (1791–1852) and opened in New Town in 1833. This sampler was made and presented to the Lieutenant-Governor’s wife, Lady Jane Franklin (1791–1875) on the occasion of the first examination five years later. The schools were intended for children who were completely destitute, whose parents could not afford to keep them or who were considered in moral danger from their parents. The orphanages were an integral part of the convict system receiving the children of assigned convict servants and those of female prisoners held at the Female Factory at Cascades.

The text embroidered into the design notes that it was made for the ‘first examination’ on 31 May, 1838. This was presumably the first examination held in girl’s wing of the newly-built school. Needlework was an important part of the education of young women in the nineteenth century, and was regarded as particularly important in imparting a work ethic and self-discipline to the colony’s female convicts. It is not known who, or how many orphans contributed to the making of this unusual sampler. The design is very simple, consisting of minor variations in each of the nine rosettes. This suggests an overall predetermined scheme within which the students were permitted to contribute minor variations.