DETAILS
Wednesday 24th June 2026 at 4:30pm (AEST)
Dr Laura Jocic, Deakin University
Bound for Australia: Anne Trotter’s Needlework Specimen Book, 1840
ABSTRACT
Amongst the possessions that Irish-born Anne Trotter packed in her trunk to start a new life in Australia was her needlework specimen book. Arriving in Port Phillip in 1844, Anne Trotter was one of many assisted migrants who, along with other members of her family, were deemed suitable emigrants to the colony. Donated to Museums Victoria by a descendant in 2014, Anne’s needlework book, which includes various plain sewing exercises and finely-stitched miniature shirts and a dress, provides an insight into the formal schooling provided to young working class girls in nineteenth century Ireland and the skills which they brought to Australia. This lecture will discuss the context of the needlework book and posit its value to a young female emigrant.
SPEAKER
Laura Jocic is a curator and cultural historian specialising in dress and textiles and material culture. She worked as a Registrar at the Auckland Art Gallery and was a Curator of Australian Fashion and Textiles at the National Gallery of Victoria where she curated the exhibitions Australian Made: 100 Years of Fashion and Linda Jackson: Bush Couture. She completed a PhD at the University of Melbourne in 2023 on the significance of dress in Australian colonial society. She is an Honorary Associate at Museums Victoria and Treasurer of the Professional Historians Association (Vic & Tas).
LOCATION (In-Person and online)
Jabiru Room, Academic Centre, Newman College, University of Melbourne.