62/31

This is a ladies bonnet, in a mauve and white small check cotton. It belonged to the donor's grandmother, Elizabeth Billingham, who wore it as a young girl in Shefford, Bedfordshire in the late-nineteenth century.

1 bonnet: cotton; ribbon; fair condition- worn

MERL 'Handwritten catalogue' form – 'BONNET // Used by donor's grandmother at Shefford, Bedfordshire. // Mauve + white bonnet with small check design. It is made of cotton and has a frill round the neck and a ribbon at the back. It is very worn and the original ribbons have been replaced with mauve tapes. It is lined with white cotton.', Letter, M. Billingham to MERL, 24 May 1962 - 'I have enclosed with this note the Sunbonnet - about which I spoke to you on the telephone this afternoon. // It belonged originally to my grandmother Elizabeth Billingham, who wore it as a young girl. She lived most of her life in Shefford in Bedfordshire + once told me that she used to plait straw for the hats that were then made in Luton. "I could only plait size - she said but my sister Annie could plait eight" // My grandmother died at the age of eighty two about ten years ago - so I estimate the bonnet at about seventy five years...'

1875-01-01 - 1899-12-31

Late-nineteenth century