Publications | Down Survey | 1997 Issue Contents

The Lewis bedcover
M Lesley Simpson

Down County Museum has several extremely interesting bedcovers in its collection. They range in date from the early nineteenth to the late twentieth century. All are of interest, not simply as pieces of needlework, although many are indeed fine examples, but as historical and social artifacts. This article is about one of them, together with two other items which originated from the same family and which tell us of eight sisters who lived near Downpatrick in the early nineteenth century. They also illustrate the collection policy of the museum in setting artifacts in context and relating them to our community.

The Lewis bedcover is of white linen, embroidered with white linen threads, using mainly French knots and satin stitch. ¹ It appears to be a derivative of Mountmellick work, although finer. The backing is attached to the front by the embroidery. It measures 2.49 x 2.26 metres and is signed 'Anne Lewis 1824'. The embroidery is in the form of baskets of flowers and floral motifs. It was given to the museum in 1990 by Mr David Hogg of Holywood, County Down, who is the great great grandson of Anne Lewis. This gift, on behalf of the Hogg family, led us to uncover a story, not just of Anne, but also of her sisters.

Anne, also called Nancy, lived in the small townland of Spittle Ballee, between Downpatrick and Ardglass. She was the daughter of William Lewis and Jane Chambers. She married Robert Henry of Carricknab at Ballee Unitarian Church in 1825 and died on 6 January 1882. Anne had two brothers; one, William, died unmarried during his father's lifetime, while the other, whose name is unknown, died in infancy. Anne's sisters were Sarah, Isabella, Susanna, Catherine. Mary, Margaret and Jane. Unpublished family history refers to a ninth sister but there is no further information. 'Unpublished of Anne's sisters married, Sarah to Andrew Todd of Saintfield , County Down and Isabella to James Todd of Belfast.

Each of the eight sisters is said to have made a bedcover. Two of them died in their twenties and since those who did marry did not have sons, most of the bedcovers were passed down through the Chambers family of Tullynaskeagh, Downpatrick, to whom the Lewis's were related by marriage. The girls' mother was Jane Chambers, and their father's sister, Agnes, had married John Chambers.² The only bedcover which passed down by a different route was that made by Anne, which went to her daughter Ellen. Ellen married Joseph Hogg of Rathmullan, County Down, in 1854 and the bedcover passed down through the male descendants of this family.

Of the eight bedcovers said to have been made, the following have now been traced by the museum:

However, three or even four, further bedcovers may be in the possession of surviving descendants in Crawfordsburn, Manchester, Belfast and Glasgow, according to the late Mrs. Iris McMechan of Downpatrick, whose mother was a member of the Chambers family. Mrs. McMechan certainly remembered one bedcover being passed to a relative in Manchester. Research on this continues!

A tradition which ran in the family recounted that the bedcovers were intended to be used as burial shrouds. Mr. David Chambers and Mrs. McMechan both repeated this story. Evidently this was not carried out in the case of those discovered although they may have been used for laying out. Mrs. McMechan also told us that the flax for the quilts had been grown and spun at Spittle Quarter, Ballee and that the floral motifs were derived from the flowers in the family garden.

Six years after the acquisition of the bedcover, the museum acquired two further items associated with the same family. A small beaded purse with the initials J.L. and dated 1833 was given by Miss Marion Dickson, of Downpatrick.³. At the same time a sampler was acquired. This takes the form of a map of Ireland and is annotated 'A new map of Ireland wrought by C. Lewis 1811'.⁴ The annotation is contained within a harp and the whole is inside a simple oval border. The piece measures 6) x 48 cm. A tradition in the Chambers family recounted that the embroidery on this piece was done with horsehair. It seems reasonable to suppose from the family history that these two pieces were the work of Jane and Catherine Lewis. Mr Chambers of London also has a sampler, this one of an 'Outline Map of the World for Ladies Needlework and Young Students of Geography'. It is signed by Susanna Lewis and dated 1815. Maps were not popular in the north of Ireland and surviving examples are from Killyleagh,⁵ County Down. The sampler signed by Catherine Lewis does not include a placename but the museum has another example of such a sampler in its collection, signed 'Elizabeth Harper Killileagh October 1834'.⁶ This one has shamrocks at the four corners and a border of embroidered flowers. It measures 52 x 45 cm. The museum has two other samplers from Killyleagh in its collection, although these incorporate the text 'Remember thy creator in the days of thy youth'. They are dated 1826 and 1837.'⁷ It seems possible that a school here was responsible for using samplers as a method of teaching, as was recommended practice.

In summary, the samplers were probably made by two of the Lewis sisters as children. The bedcovers were made by them as young women, a decade later. The beaded purse is a single example typical of the kind of object made by women in their leisure time at this period. As a type, the bedcovers are not unique; similar examples of white embroidered pieces are known in Ireland and further afield, including the United States. The motifs used, such as flowers in a basket, are common in needlework generally.8 What is especially interesting is the survival of five major pieces of fine needlework from the early nineteenth century, plus the smaller items, originating from the one family. We are fortunate to have examples retained both by descendants of the family and in public collections for their greater enjoyment and study.

Purse with initals JL (for Jane Lewis) and dated 1833 (Down County Museum) : [size 80 x 90mm] Click here for larger image

M Lesley Simpson: Keeper of Collections at Down County Museum since 1986; BA in Archaeology from Queens University, Belfast, with a special interest in the late medieval period.

References

1.	Down County Museum Collection 1997-813
2.	Chambers, Jonathan, 'My Family History' in Lecale Miscellany any 4, pp 29-35 (Downpatrick 1986)
3.	Down County Museum Collection 1997-728
4.	Down County Museum Collection 1997-727
5.	Crawford , Heather, M. Needlework Samplers of' Northem Ireland; Pattems and History, p 18. (Crawfordsbum 1989)
6.	Down County Museum Collection 1997-733
7 .	Down County Museum Collection 1997-734 and 1997-735
8 .	Crawford, ibid, 33ff; Fox, Sandi, Wrapped in Glory, Figurative Quilts and Bedcovers; 7700-1900, p43 (London 1990)

Acknowledgements

Thanks are due to the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, Mrs. Maude Walmsley Chambers and Mrs. Doreen Chambers of Tullynaskeagh, Downpatrick, Mr. David Chambers of London, Miss Marion Dickson of Downpatrick. Mr. David Hogg of Holywood, Mrs. Monica McClintock of Redhall, Ballycarry, County Antrim, the late Mrs. Iris McMechan of Downpatrick, and Mr. F.J. Maxwell of Ballee, Downpatrick, for their help in preparing this article. Purse with initials JL (for Javce Lewis) and dated 1833. (Down County Museum): (size 80 x 90mm)