The guests at the party

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks | Week 5 - Heirloom

#52Ancestors

Signature tablecloth of Fred McKinlay and Francia Dow

We are very fortunate in our family to have myriad wonderful heirlooms, but perhaps the most splendid of them is a tablecloth. This is not just any ordinary tablecloth but a signature cloth that dates from the engagement of my great-grandmother Francia Dow and great-grandfather Frederick McKinlay. Yes, the same young couple we met in last week’s scandalous post.

As I learned through the correspondence relating to the incident in Broadmount, Fred and Francia became engaged to be married in approximately September 1905 and the occasion was celebrated with a large party at the bride’s parents’ home in Maryborough, Queensland. Each guest signed a tablecloth and after the party each signature was embroidered over and a decorative border of shamrocks, perhaps as a wish for good luck to the young couple or maybe as a salute to Frederick’s mother’s Irish heritage. Francia’s mother Catherine and sister Eva were accomplished needlewomen (and pieces of their work are some of our family’s other treasured heirlooms). Francia also had skills in this area as she won several prizes for needlework during her school years. We don’t know for sure who did the embroidery on this tablecloth but it’s reasonable to think it was Catherine or Eva, as Francia was working at this time. The tablecloth features the names of 114 guests at the party, providing insight into the family dynamics and social set of this couple. This included, of course, the happy couple along with Francia’s parents and all five siblings and both of Fred’s sisters, but not his brother or parents.

Interestingly, also in attendance was the odious Mr. Fleming (who so harshly raised the matter of Fred visiting Francia alone on weekends – see last week’s post), along with his daughter Isabella May (who was the same age as Francia), Alexander Main (Mr. Fleming’s business partner and Treasurer of the Broadmount School Committee), David Mathieson, President and Secretary of the school committee, and his wife Patience Mathieson. So clearly the relationship between Francia and the school committee was not always as strained as it became after the Broadmount School was closed in 1906. I’ve also used the names on the cloth as clues to help to try to establish the identity of Eva Dow’s beau. Family folklore says he died in the war and this is why Eva never married (you can read more about this in Feeling Blue About the Browns, August 2015).

Researching the people behind the other names on the tablecloth is an ongoing project. The full list of names appears below. I’d love to hear from anyone who has a connection to any of the people listed.

Mabel A Adam	Ruby Crooks	Ruth Hayward	Percy Millard
F Appel	C E Culverhouse	Florrie Hayward	Elsie Milcs
I Appel	Francia Dow	T Hewitt	Willie Mills
John J Archibald?	Edgar G P Dow	R C Hill	James A Mulhern
Marie Ball	C E Dow	William Hill	Lois Nelson
Herbert John Barker	Eva Faenza Dow	May Hobau	Regina Neuman
_________ Barrett	Louis Henry Dow	William Jackson	Sydney Vincent O’Kane
Olive Bell	Victor H Dow	Isabel Julin	R Jno Orkney
M E Bell	John McD M Dow	E Julin	Nancy Orkney
John Bell	Louis S Dow	A Kelman	Bessie Petersen
Susie Bradesy	Edwin Dunlop	Mary Kruger	Bertie Roberts
James Brannelly	George Evans	E T E L_______	H. Naomi Roberts
P M Brannelly	Ida Evans	Isabel La Barte	E M Roberts
Fred Brooks	Lizzie Evans	Finlay John Lawson	H J Roden
C G Brown	Daisy Evans	Robert Liddle	Luke Schenalback
I Brown	Robert Fleming	Con Macnara	Berry Schemalleck
F B Brown	Isabel May Fleming	Alexr Main	H Sewell (Henry)
H Brown	F O Foster	Jesper Nielsen Mark	Ada Sewell
Alfred Bryant	Lucy Foster	Lucy E Marsh	Ethel Sewell
Bob/Babs Butcher	Alfred G. Freeman	David Mathieson	A A Sinclair
W John Byrnes	Florence French	Patience Mathieson	Frank Sommers
M S Cameron	Chas G French	J S McCallum	Tess Streeter
Madeline L Chambers	Violet French	Frederick William McCourtie	Imelda Struber
Harold Charles	Ethel French	Fred McKinlay	Harry W Sutton
Amy Charles	Frederick Charles Gamball	Helena McKinlay	Ethel Telfer
Joseph Cook	Ethel Griffith	P McPherson	Margaret Thomas
Thomas H Cook	Adah Hastings	Will Merrick	Roy Tabor Thomas
Jeanette B Turner	Lily Wockner	Annie Wockner
Walter Watson	Emily Wockner	Cecilia Emily Woodward