Historical information

This hand-knitted, white double-bed bedspread and matching round cushion were hand-made by Vera Giles. The process took her nine-and-a-half months. She presented it to Flagstaff Hill to be part of the Giles Collection.

There are many 19th-century items of furniture, linen and crockery donated to Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village by Vera and Aurelin Giles. The items are associated with the Giles Family and are known as the “Giles Collection”. These items mostly came from the simple home of Vera’s parents-in-law, Henry Giles and his wife Mary Jane (nee Freckleton), whose photos are in the parlour. They married in 1880.

Henry Giles was born at Tower Hill in 1858. He was a labourer on the construction of the Breakwater before leaving in 1895 to build bridges in N.S.W. for about seven years.

Mary Jane was born in 1860 at Cooramook. She attended Mailor’s Flat State School where she was also a student teacher before, as a family legend has it, she became a governess at “Injemiara” where her grandfather, Francis Freckleton, once owned land.

Henry and Mary’s family of six, some of whom were born at Mailor’s Flat and later children at Wangoom, lived with their parents at Wangoom and Purnim west, where Henry died in 1933 and Mary Jane in 1940.

Significance

The Giles family collection has social significance at a local level because it illustrates the level of material support the Warrnambool community gave to Flagstaff Hill when the Museum was established.
The handmade items were knitted in the late 20th century using a craft and design that augment the late-19th to early 20th-century furnishings where they are displayed.

Physical description

Hand knitted white cotton bedspread and cushion with knitted floral pattern. Items are both part of the Giles Collection.