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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | Martha Bergin Quilt |
| Date | 1843 |
| Document Type | Object |
| Reference | HT 12340 |
| Library / Archive | Museums Victoria |
| Collection Name | Personal Stories Collections |
| Description | Appliqué quilt, with a floral and bird pattern on heavy off-white fabric. Appliqué is made up of many different types of fabric, some printed with patterns such as flowers. A simple blanket-style stitch is used around the appliquéd pieces and to form stems between floral forms. The original fringe was trimmed back in recent decades to a small woven trim; a relative also washed the quilt, which has caused slight bleeding to some colours. |
| Biographical Note / History | The quilt was brought to Victoria by gold-rush immigrants from Ireland. It was made by Martha Bergin in Athlone, Ireland, in 1843. She was then aged about 21, and married three years later, in May 1846, to Andrew Tipping. They migrated to Australia in 1851 as assisted migrants, supported by the Colonial Land and Emigration Commission, sailing on the 'Beulah' from Plymouth, England to Hobart, Tasmania. On arrival in Hobart in September 1851 Martha and Andrew were found employment, but left Hobart after a short stay and moved to Melbourne where they remained for three years. Their third son was baptised in Melbourne in July 1852, and lived to adulthood, the only one of their seven children who survived childhood. The couple then moved to the goldfields, settling at various locations. They remained in central Victoria for the rest of their lives. Andrew died in 1882, Martha a year later. |
| Theme(s) | Permanent Settlement and Successive Generations |
| Places | Victoria, Australia |
| Nationality | Irish |
| People | Bergin, Martha |
| Keywords | enbroidery, textiles, gold rush, assisted migration, object |
| Additional Information | Please note: Some of the metadata for this document has been taken from the Museum Victoria catalogue. |
| Catalogue Link | Museums Victoria Catalogue |
| Document(s) linked to |
Isabella Spence, Patchwork Quilt, Scotland |
| Copyright | Museums Victoria |
