Pair of wedding shoes by Walter & Co worn by Agnes Thompson
Object No. 2005/210/4
These shoes form part of a collection of wedding attire, including shoes, dress and drawstring purses, which were worn by Agnes Thompson on her wedding to Dr George Busby, government medical officer at the Convict Hospital at Bathurst, on 11 January 1833. At the time that Agnes Thompson married George Busby, weddings - and wedding dresses - were often quite simple with the intention that the dress and accessories would be used for 'best' for some years to come. The dress is typical of the fashions of the 1830s in its simple classical design and the shoes, imported from London, reveal how closely English fashions were followed despite the distance and the comparative isolation. This collection is particularly interesting in that Agnes has left a description of her wedding day in her Memoirs: '...George and I were married at the cottage at 'Saltram' by my brother Tom. My bridesmaids were Eliza Piper and Miss Ball, who was governess at 'Alloway Bank', and afterwards married my brother'. She goes on to write that after the service the wedding party were entertained to dinner by Captain Piper at his property 'Alloway Bank', during which Captain Piper's servants 'discoursed sweet music for the company'. These shoes and related items are a rare, well provenanced and important surviving example of an early colonial woman's consume. The collection has added significance through the family's links to John Busby, George's father, who designed and constructed the bore that brought fresh water for Sydney's inhabitants from Lachlan Swamps (Centennial Park) into a reservoir in Hyde Park, Sydney. REF: Busby, Agnes, Bathurst in the thirties: some memories of the early days / by a nonagenarian, Alfred J. Dowse, Bathurst, 1902
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Summary
Object Statement
Wedding slipper shoes (pair), womens, silk / leather / cardboard, by Walter & Co, London, England, worn by Agnes Thompson, Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia, 1833
Physical Description
Pair of square toed slip on shoes made of cream silk with thin brown leather soles. The shoes are decorated on the front with small cream braid bows.
DIMENSIONS
Width
60 mm
Depth
30 mm
PRODUCTION
Notes
Manufactured in London by Walter & Co in 1833.
HISTORY
Notes
Shoemaking is an ancient craft. For centuries, people have worn coverings to protect their feet from heat, cold and other environmental hazards. But for almost as long, shoes have also been status symbols, reflecting the wearer's position in society and the attitudes of a culture or a time. A person wanting to buy shoes in the 1800s could get them direct from a shoemaker who worked alone or in a shared workshop with traditional tools and techniques. Factories were also producing ready-made shoes by hand, which could be bought from the premises or from warehouses or peddlers. Gradually, mechanisation took over from handwork and by the end of the century most shoes were machine-made in factories and sold through specialist shoe shops. Shoes have become objects of beauty, rather than merely practical items. They are essential fashion accessories, with the change in vogue expressed through different toe shapes, heel heights, materials and decoration. Technical developments have accompanied many of these changes and, in some cases, made them possible. These shoes were worn by Agnes Thompson on her wedding day, 11 January 1833. They were later possibly used by Agnes Thompson's daughter.
SOURCE
Credit Line
Gift of Kirsten Halley, Catriona Clifton-Bligh and Charles Alexander, 2005
Acquisition Date
13 October 2005
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