>From Jeri - To elaborate and maybe help - some content taken from a memo written years ago (I hate to regurgitate what has already been composed):
Alan Summerly Cole was son of the famous Sir Henry Cole, who - with Prince Albert - created the Great Exhibition of 1851. Later, Sir Henry became the founding Director of what is now the Victoria and Albert Museum. Some of the first laces in the V&A collection were purchased by Sir Henry. Son, Alan Summerly Cole, wrote reports on the working conditions of lacemaking communities in England and Ireland. The late Alan Brown, husband of Sheila Brown -- a current member of Arachne -- re-published at least 4 of these very interesting reports, and they may be in some Lace Guild libraries: 1. "Take the Children..." How Victorian lace girls lived and worked in the Honiton and East Midlands districts - this is their story, as told to the 1862 Royal Commission - 45 pages 2. "A rough lot..." Nottingham in 1862 - lace finishing employed thousands of young women and girls. This is the story of their life and work, as told to the Royal Commission of that year... - 46 pages 3. "The Honiton lace industry in 1887" - based on the report of Alan Cole on his visit to Devon in Queen Victoria's golden jubilee year - 29 pages 4. "Lace and the Emerald Isle" - based in part on the Alan Cole report made after his 1886 visit to Ireland at the behest of the Department of Science and Art in London, but mainly from an article on Irish lacemaking which he contributed in 1890 to the English Illustrated Magazine - 51 pages I believe some of these reports have been scanned from the originals for _http://www.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/lace.html_ (http://www.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/lace.html) I wrote a book review, which should be in Arachne archives, "The Great Exhibitor - The Life and Work of Henry Cole" by Elizabeth Bonython and Anthony Burton, published by the V&A and distributed by Harry N. Abrams, Inc. in 2003. ISBN 1-8109-6575-5 This man rose from rags to fame and fortune. Really fascinating as he devoted much time to improving the quality of children's books, hackney cabs, public lavatories, choral singing, cookery (his daughters taught the poor how to prepare proper meals), sewage disposal, etc. So great were his accomplishments that in his late years he was referred to as "Old King Cole". I very much want our newest Arachne members to understand the important links that have brought lace history forward. Jeri Ames in Maine USA Lace and Embroidery Resource Center - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003/albums/most-recent
