Twenty-year-old Caroline Phoebe Newing got married in this elegant wedding ensemble on 3 June 1880 in the Episcopal Church, at Matarawa, between Okoia and Fordell.

In the Victorian era wedding gowns echoed day dress fashions, but with paler colours and richer fabrics, which signified taste and wealth. Caroline’s ensemble is made from a self-striped cream silk. The stripes are created through subtle changes in weave, creating the gown’s understated richness. The jacket features a collarless neckline, centre-front knife pleats, and delicate piped details. The shaped, two-piece, sleeves are finished with matching pleated cuffs. The skirt extends into a small train, with pleated trim and piping finished with a five-centimetre hem band. The skirt decoration is mirrored in a separately attached train.

Caroline and her husband, 29-year-old Samuel Toy Beard, raised three children and lived at Matawhitia, their property in Mangamahu, in the middle reaches of the Whangaehu River valley. In 1911 they retired to a home on Great North Road, near Westmere. Caroline lived until the age of 94 and died in 1955. She had been a widow for 29 years. Caroline’s granddaughter, Laura Ingram, donated the outfit to the Museum in 1974.

Wedding ensemble, 1880
Maker unknown
Made from silk and lined with cotton
Gift of Laura Newing Ingram, 1974
WRM 1974.37
Photographed by Kathy Greensides

View the full-length image