Honiton Lace Veil

In 1993 my fiancée’s mother invited me to use a lace veil – which had been used by members of her family since 1866 – as part of my wedding outfit. I had not planned to use a veil, but I realised wearing this veil linked me to my new family: I became part of the veil’s story. Below I examine the features and sub-texts of the lace veil.

Lace is “a decorative openwork fabric in which the pattern of spaces is as important as the solid areas,”[1] and has been made since at least the sixteenth century using thread. Until the development of lace making machinery in the late eighteenth century all lace was handmade. The family lace veil was created in the mid nineteenth century using handmade bobbin part lace from cotton thread appliqued to machine made net. The veil is unique: no other garment would have the part lace pieces made or appliqued in exactly the same way. The veil is 185cm by 175cm in size, the piecework is intricate, the colour has matured from white to ivory, and the veil is lightweight and soft to touch.

Photo of Family Veil

The veil has been used on at least sixteen occasions, over six generations from 1866 to 2015. The names of women who are known to have used the veil over 149 years are listed below.

List of women who are known to have worn the lace veil

Year	Gen	Name – the owner of the veil also indicated.	Direct (D)/ Marrying a Direct/ Friend
1866	1	Isabella Dixson (Owner)	D
1890	2	Isabella Hibberd	D
1893	2	Helen Hibberd  (Owner)	D
1916	3	Helen Barbour	D
1923	3	Eva Barbour	D
1926	3	Gwenyth Harry (owner)	D
1934	3	Freda Barbour	D
1952	4	Joy Crofts	D
1956	4	Ruth Crofts (Owner)	D
1979	5	Linda Taylor	Marrying
1983	5	Pamela Kinnear	Marrying
1985	5	Meryl Joyce (Owner)	D
1986?	5	Joanne Maples	Friend
1993	5	Rebecca Hilton	Marrying
2014	6	Rosemary Devereaux	D
2015	6	Amy Devereaux	D

Unfortunately this list is not conclusive. There may have been other occasions on which the veil was used, particularly by Isabella Dixson’s new sisters-in-law or others in the late nineteenth century. The veil has also travelled widely, being used in Sydney, Brisbane, Mymensingh in India, Perth and Canberra, plus being kept by Helen Harry (nee Hibberd) in New Zealand for many years.

Ownership of the veil is vested in the eldest daughter of the eldest daughter, connecting the past to the present, and also connecting the people who wear it. Thus it is unique not just in design, but also in its own story.

Family folklore is that the veil is a piece of Honiton Lace, but this would be difficult to categorically authenticate without analysis of the thread. Textile specialists can easily identify the technique used for lace making, but it is hard to determine the location or year in which lace was made. Lace makers at the Powerhouse Lace Study Centre confirmed that the technique for this lace was handmade bobbin part lace, which is a feature of Honiton Lace.[2]

Honiton Lace has been produced in East Devon in England since at least the late sixteenth century. It is probable Flemish refugees brought lace-making skills to the area, as there are similarities between Honiton Lace and other Flemish laces. By the seventeenth century lace was a major industry of East Devon. The lace is made by pieces that were either laced together or mounted onto net grounding (before lace-making machines the net grounding also was handmade). The pieces are made using bobbins: four bobbins create a simple edging, but an intricate spray of leaves requires up to 32 bobbins. Lacemaking is a complex and time-consuming process, even for people with years of experience.

The Honiton Lace trade was waning in the early nineteenth century, mainly because lace-making machines were introduced, making lace cheaper and faster to produce. The first lace-making factory in East Devon opened in 1810, and by 1822 employed 1500 people. Honiton Lace survived the introduction of machine lace because it was piecework and able to be mounted onto machine-made net: the value added to the grounding by handmade piecework was significant. Demand for Honiton Lace increased significantly from 1840 when Queen Victoria’s wedding outfit used Honiton Lace for the flounce and veil. Local materials were used with the aim of promoting English industry to the wider world. The revival in the lace industry lasted into the early twentieth century and while Honiton Lace can be purchased in the twenty-first century, it is predominantly made as a leisure activity.

Leora Auslander wrote that: “objects not only are the product of history, they are also active agents in history,”[3] and the veil has three important sub-texts besides being a lace veil valued by a family. The veil: is part of a wedding tradition; is a product made for women by women; and was imported into Australia from England.

Firstly, when Queen Victoria married in a white dress, she did more than revive the lace industry; she impacted the way weddings were conceived and conducted, and she popularised the white wedding. A white wedding had connotations regarding moral and social value of marriage, particularly for the woman, who was expected to be respectable and well behaved. There were other changes taking place during the nineteenth century. People were more likely to marry for mutual attraction and emotional bonds; marketing of the wedding ceremony started taking place – engagement rings went from an option to the norm, people gave gifts to the newlyweds – and the social aspects changed, the wedding service went from being a communal event held on Sunday, to a service held privately with the isolated family group. The clothing worn by the bride and groom also changed. Prior to the mid nineteenth century, brides and grooms wore their ‘best’ outfit. After Queen Victoria’s wedding most brides continued to wear their best dress, which was not necessarily white, but would wear a white veil. It was the veil that set the bride apart from the rest of the attendees, and so it became an important symbol. Only the wealthy could afford a white wedding, and so white weddings became an aspiration of the growing middle class. By the turn of the twentieth century, dresses also were white, and the white wedding was entrenched.

Secondly, the veil is a product made by women for women. Honiton Lace originated as a cottage industry, but quickly developed a manufacturing hierarchy, with merchants at the top, employing designers, lace makers and finishers. The wages were low – less than a farm labourer – and so lacemaking became a job for women working in their homes. In the early nineteenth century at least one merchant paid employees via tokens, which could only be used in the general stores owned by the merchant, further diminishing the value of the wage.[4] The lace was expensive, and so lace makers could not afford to wear the lace. Wealthy women exploited working class women in the name of fashion, a theme that runs through the history of the fashion industry.

Thirdly, the veil was made in England and imported to Australia in the mid nineteenth century. The veil may have been purchased in late 1865 at David Jones, a large draper's shop that would become an important department store, who were advertising wedding outfits which had been “imported ex mail steamer Strathdon and Walter Hood… [including] a beautiful collection of ... veils in Honiton.”[5] Notwithstanding the possibility of this being the place of purchase for this veil, the advertisement demonstrated how Australia followed European tradition and sought to replicate English values.

Unfortunately, the veil cannot tell its own story. It is not able to record details, so even its origins are not confirmed, although details of users can be constructed to a certain point. The fact that the veil has been kept for 150 years shows its importance to the family. There are other veils from the same period that have been retained, but this veil could never be replaced.

Endnotes

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[1] Rosemary Shepherd, Lace Classification System (Sydney: Powerhouse Museum, 2003) 2.

[2] The Powerhouse Lace Study Centre was consulted about the lace on 17 January 2015. Volunteers staff the Centre and they are not textile specialists but have an interest in the historical pieces held by the Centre. While earlier newspaper articles described it as Brussels or Limerick Lace, it is assumed that the oral tradition about the veil is correct and the veil represents Honiton Lace.

[3] Leora Auslander, “Beyond Words,” The American Historical Review, Vol. 110, No.4 (October 2005) 1015-1045. DOI: 10.1086/ahr.110.4.1015.

[4] Pamela M. Inder, Honiton Lace (Exeter: Exeter Museums Publications, 1977) 8.

[5] "Advertising." The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) 9 Dec 1865: 9. Web. 26 Sep 2015 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13122954>.

Frederick Hibberd (1835 - 1908)

Frederick Hibberd was born on 13 July 1836 in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England; the son of Mary Pavy and Elijah Hibberd.  He was baptised on 31 July 1836 in the Salisbury Parish Church – he was actually baptised as ‘Frederic’.  He was the couple’s second youngest of eight children.  Elijah Hibberd died in 1840 and Mary in 1841 – so Frederick was an orphan at the age of five.  It appears that the older siblings raised the younger children, including Frederick.  In the 1851 and 1861 Census he was living with his brother, Elijah – firstly in Salisbury and then in Winchester.  Elijah was an umbrella maker and it appears that, for at least some time, Frederick joined his brother in this occupation.  In 1857 Frederick commenced lay preaching and recalled that his first sermon “lies buried in forgetfulness”.  In the 1861 Census his occupations was listed as a shoemaker / lay preacher. He was student number 33 at Spurgeons College (then Pastor's College), London - one of the very first people to have trained with Reverend Charles Spurgeon for the Baptist Ministry.  Frederick attended the College in 1862 and 1863 until Rev. Spurgeon sent him to Australia to help supplement the meagre number of Baptist Ministers in the Colony.  Generally the training was a little longer than two years unless Spurgeon had a particular ‘assignment’ for the student.  Obviously Spurgeon did in Frederick Hibberd’s case.  Spurgeon heavily influenced Frederick’s style.

Frederick Hibberd arrived in Sydney on the brig ‘La Hogue’ on 29 October 1863 – the journey had taken 90 days from Plymouth. The Baptist Church was in its infancy and no doubt Baptists in Sydney would have been thrilled to have a new Minister in the Colony.  Upon his arrival a tea and public meeting was held to welcome him to Sydney.  According to the Sydney Morning Herald’s report of the meeting, about 300 people attended the tea and a much larger number attended the meeting.  Captain Williams, of the La Hogue spoke and talked about Frederick’s exemplary activities while on the La Hogue – Frederick had conducted all services and performed other ministry activities.  Rev Kent also spoke about how important it was to get a gentleman who was endorsed by Rev Spurgeon.  He said Ministers were like warriors in the field of battle who were delighted to receive reinforcements.   Frederick said that he trusted there would be a good bond between himself and his church.  He said that a Minister should have the freedom to work wherever he could do good work and should be hampered by poor conditions.  He said that he needed the support of his Church.  He finished by quoting some lines by Wesley describing the Christian’s future blessedness. 

The Sydney Morning Herald reported on sermons to be preached by Frederick in 1864, although there is no record about what the sermons were actually about:

10 January – The Mischievous Penknife

17 January – A Question for the Times

24 January – An Eye to Business

31 January – Spiritual Anatomy

7 February – The Four Portraits

14 February – Which of the Two

21 February  - How are you

28 February – Travail and Triumph

6 March – Black but Beautiful

13 March – World’s Contemplated Condition

20 March – Crossing the Line

5 June – Here is the form, but where is the force?

12 June – What do you preach?

19 June – Good cheer for the famishing

26 June – Do you remember?

3 July – Will you come?

10 July – Too late!  Too late!

On 11 January 1866 Frederick married Isabella Dixson at 198 York Street in Sydney.  It was Isabella’s 21^st Birthday.  Isabella and Frederick had eight children; of which only one was male.  The sixth child died as an infant.

After marriage, Frederick continued to work in Sydney, but increasingly had issues with two deacons of the Church. In 1867 he decided to accept a ministry at Launceston, Tasmania. When Frederick, Isabella and one year old Helen were moving to Launceston, the steamer they were on collided with another ship and sank in Hobson Bay, near Williamstown. Fortunately, due to the proximity of other ships in the Bay, there was no loss of life – except for some of the sheep – and the Hibberd’s possessions happened to be on a different ship. It must have still been quite a shock to Isabella and Frederick!

They didn’t stay in Launceston for a long time.  Frederick resigned in July 1867 in protest of “impurity and corruption in the church”. The young family then went to Sandhurst, Victoria. He resigned from this position to recover from injuries received in a serious carriage accident.  He was riding along the street that the hospital was located on (that was handy) when his horse stumbled and he fell into an area that had been excavated.  He suffered severe concussion.  The family returned to Sydney.

Frederick Hibberd appears to be quite ‘accident prone’!  Besides the sinking in Hobson Bay, he was also lucky to escape the sinking of the Jason in 1875 when he spent a year travelling to England – a trip which was undertaken in part to have a rest after nearly dying in the above carriage accident in Sandhurst! There were at least two other reported carriage accidents that Frederick was in – one with his infant granddaughter.

Upon his return to Australia in 1875, he went to Bourke Street Baptist Church in Woolloomooloo; before moving to Ashfield in 1880.  The family lived in Holden Street – near the newly built Ashfield Baptist Church, and Frederick worked free of charge in the new church. The family were supported by Hugh Dixson, Frederick's brother-in-law.

Frederick Hibberd was highly respected as a minister and preacher.  He was involved in the NSW Baptist Union for over 45 years, specifically: the president four times; editor of The Baptist for nine years; and the secretary of the Baptist Foreign Missionary Society for 23 years.  Besides assisting in the establishment of the Ashfield and Goulburn Baptist Churches, Frederick also started new work at Bourke Street, Sydney and at Parramatta. After finishing his work at Ashfield, Frederick worked extensively for the Baptist Church in NSW, including preaching wherever invited. He was also involved with the establishment of the East Carlingford Presbyterian Church (now Epping). It was unusual that a Baptist Minister would be involved in the Presbyterian Church.

On 27 October 1908 Frederick Hibberd died suddenly at his home “Sarum” in Carlingford in Sydney.  He was 73. It was reported that he woke in the morning and didn’t feel particularly well.  He decided to go back to his bed, he asked his wife Isabella to get him “a glass of brandy” (as reported in The Baptist edition of 2 November 1908) before he fell back on the bed and died.  Presumably the brandy was considered medicinal as Frederick had lectured on the importance of abstaining from alcohol!

The funeral was held on 28 October. Arthur Waldock organised the funeral arrangements and conducted a short service at Frederick Hibberd’s home with relatives.  Rev W.M. Cartwright, president of the Baptist Union, conducted the service at Rookwood and Thomas Porter delivered the eulogy. Arthur Waldock also assisted in the service along with other ministers. The service included the singing of one of Frederick Hibberd’s favourite hymns, “Rock of Ages” (This hymn was also a favourite of Prince Albert, who had it played to him on his deathbed).

When Rev Arthur Waldock was establishing the Canberra Baptist Church he ensured that a stained glass window was included in Frederick Hibberd's honour.  A plaque was also put in the Bathurst Street Baptist Church in recognition of his work.

Relationship to SNR = Great-great-great grandfather

Ellen Porter (Ellen Haines)

I have a slightly obsessive personality.  Scary really – more for my family than myself!  Anyway, I was doing some research a few days ago and was re-reading an article on the death of Rev Frederick Hibberd in 1908 and realised that there was a statement about the relationship of Rev Dr Thomas Porter to the Dixson family “Dr. Porter delivered an eloquent panegyric. His wife was a sister of Dr. S. Dixson and Mr. Hugh Dixson.”  How could I have missed this before!!!  So (seeing I am easily distracted) I immediately began to research Dr Thomas Porter and his family to verify the connection.  However, Dr Porter’s wife was not a Dixson.  I simply read the article incorrectly.  The writer was making a statement about Dr Porter and then immediately went back to discussing Frederick Hibberd – whose wife was a sister of Dr. S. Dixson and Mr Hugh Dixson. 

But as I’ve now researched the family of Ellen and Thomas Porter, I thought I’d share it!  Now you may have noticed that this entry is actually titled Ellen Porter.  That’s because I will always have a slight gender bias in these matters, practicing positive discrimination really, and so I’ve decided to write this entry about Ellen rather than her husband!   Oh, I should also point out, that Dr Porter was obviously a close friend of the Dixson and Hibberd families – it was the Baptist connection.  At Dr Porter’s funeral it was specifically noted that “The Dixson Trust was represented by…”

Ellen Haines was christened in Alderbury, Wiltshire on 31 January 1841.  She was the youngest child of Elizabeth (nee Dredge) and Job Haines, who at 38 and 40 respectively already had a number of children.  Elizabeth was Job’s second wife and there were also children from his first marriage.  The 1851 Census shows Ellen living with her parents and two older brothers in Downton, Salisbury.  Soon after, they must have decided to leave England.  On 30 December 1854, Job, Elizabeth, and three of their children (Charles, 16; Elizabeth 14; and Ellen 13) arrived in Melbourne on the Tudor. 

Two years later, Ellen’s older – but rather young – sister, married John Herbert in the Rehobeth Baptist Chapel, on Regent Street in Collingwood, Melbourne. 

On 30 October 1859, 18 year old Ellen married 21 year old Thomas Porter, also at the Rehobeth Baptist Chapel.  Thomas was the elder of two sons of Thomas and Eliza Porter – Irish immigrants who had come to Australia in 1840.

Ellen appears to have had a wonderful life with Thomas.  They went to California, where Thomas studied to be a doctor.  On their return, Thomas decided he’d rather be a Minister and his first parish was in the then rural area of Doncaster, Melbourne.  They went to Adelaide, where he was the Minister of Hindmarsh Church of Christ.  Then they went to the USA for another eight years.  In around 1881 they moved back to Victoria and Thomas became a Minister in the Baptist Church – at the George Street, Fitzroy Baptist Church, followed by Ballarat Baptist. In 1894 they moved to Sydney where Thomas became Minister of the Petersham Baptist.  Thomas would have had many dealings with Frederick Hibberd, Frederick Harry and Hugh Dixson as they were all heavily involved in the Baptist Union of NSW.  Thomas was the President of the Union in 1902 - the year after Frederick Harry had been.  

Thomas retired from full time ministry in 1907, but would make himself available for interim ministries – essentially in Sydney but also in Goulburn, NSW and Ballarat, Victoria.  They had four daughters and three sons (who reached adulthood) plus a number of grandchildren.  There is evidence of relatively frequent visits to the USA – in 1897 Ellen went without George (two of their sons were living there!).  

On 19 December 1927, Thomas died rather unexpectedly (which is a nice thing when you are 89).  Their two sons in the USA were unable to return for the funeral, but the youngest son obviously visited after his father death, because he then died at his mother’s house on 21 January 1928.  It must have been a relatively difficult time for Ellen.  On 31 August 1928 – not even a year after her husband – Ellen died at their home at 5 Coronation Avenue, Petersham.    

Relationship to SNR = friend of Great-great-great grandparents