Historical information

This set was given by the Warrnambool City Council Councillors to Horace Lawson on the occasion of his marriage in 1898. Horace Edward Lawson was the son of Susan and Thomas Lawson. The latter at one time had a drapery business in Liebig Street. Horace Lawson was the Town Clerk of Warrnambool from 1893 to 1918. He was a keen cyclist and a member of the Warrnambool Volunteer Artillery Corps. In 1918 Lawson was appointed the Secretary of the Municipal Association of Victoria, a Melbourne appointment.

Significance

This set is of considerable interest as it was presented to Horace Lawson, notable in Warrnambool’s history as a long-serving and successful Town Clerk.

Physical description

This silver-plated tea and coffee set has four items – coffee pot, tea pot, sugar basin and milk jug. All have the same etched decorative patterns on the sides and the lids and all have handles attached with a nut and a bolt. The tea pot and the coffee pot have the maker’s marks on the bases and there is an inscription on the side of the sugar basin. The lids of the coffee pot, tea pot and milk jug are hinged.

Inscriptions & markings

‘W. Mammatt & Sons Sheffield’
‘Presented to H. E. Lawson Esq. Town Clerk by the Mayor & Councillors of Warrnambool on the Occasion of his Marriage Sept. 1898’