Historical information

The donor's grandparents, Matha and John Lishman, migrated to Australia from Hexham, Northumberland immediately after their marriage in 1887 and the shoe was sent by a family member to her grandmother, in anticipation of the arrival of their first child, my uncle Thomas. At the time they lived in a house which they called "Hexham" in Salisbury Grove, Hawthorn.

Physical description

Blue satin shoe with pincushion which was made for a new baby. Cushion separate. Centrally placed curved handle edged with darker blue cord. Pleated ribbon around cushion and top edge of shoe. Four ribbon bows, pins, large pins and safety pins.

Inscriptions & markings

Front : "Send Darling Baby - Mary or Thomas ? O'wert or Ewert Hexham"
Back "Innocence 1888"