This silk wedding dress is entirely handsewn. It features a fitted bodice, a small bustle, and has stylish decoration in the form of ruffles, pleating and silk bows.

Annie Eliot wore this gown when she married Thomas William Blennerhassett in September 1873. She was born in Nelson in 1852 to English immigrants Anna Amelia Bishop and Henry Eliot. Annie suffered early loss when her father died in a shooting accident before her first birthday. Her husband Thomas was born in Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland, in 1849 and migrated to New Zealand via Australia in the late 1850s.

The couple went on to have ten children and settled permanently in Whanganui in 1890, where Thomas managed the New Zealand Clothing Factory store owned by the Hallenstein Brothers. In 1893 Annie signed the Women’s Suffrage Petition, which was part of the campaign to allow women to vote in general election. Annie would have voted on 28 November that year for the first time.

Thomas died in 1911 and Annie in 1929. She left her home to four unmarried daughters, one of whom, Emily, played a key role in introducing Montessori teaching methods to Whanganui.

Wedding dress, 1873
Maker unknown
Made from silk and lined with cotton
Gift of the Blennerhassett Estate, 1976
WRM 1976.64.2

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