Annual General Meeting March 2025
It was lovely to see many of you at the Friends AGM on 25 March. We were treated to a delightful talk by Te Papa’s textile team, Rachael Collinge and Sam Gatley, on their collaborative project to conserve an exquisite Regency era gown, gifted to the museum in 1982. Made for a Miss Ramsey of Bath, the delicate silk gown, trimmed with pale blue satin and lace, was in poor condition, and its silk net overskirt completely in shreds.
Te Papa’s inaugural textile conservator, well-known Wellingtonian Valerie Carson, had begun conservation work back in 1989, on the bodice and sleeves, but work had not progressed.
In 2020 Rachael, Kaitiaki Taonga, Conservator of Textiles at Te Papa, and Sam, an internationally trained textile conservator and model maker, took on the challenge to reconstruct and restore the dress, taking advantage of the pandemic shut down.
A replica underdress was made and a bespoke mannequin constructed to display the gown and capture the form of it, as once worn by its young owner. Rachael and Sam took us through the challenges of the project and brought along us samples of the highly skilled and finely detailed hand stitching involved.
The dress is too fragile to leave Te Papa, but Rachael and Sam brought its mannequin with the silk satin underdress. Miss Ramsey was tiny!
The Friends Committee members for 2025, elected at the AGM, are: Elizabeth Kay (Chair), Jane Aim (Past Chair), Brian Pike (Treasurer), Carla Wild (Secretary), David Trott (Musical Director), Marie Gillies (Minute Secretary), Marguerite Beere, Jay Benton, and Crispin Kay. We were sorry to farewell Jillian Wellings, a much-valued committee member since 2023. We will miss Jillian’s enthusiasm.
At the AGM, tribute was paid to the late Diana Beaglehole, a long-time supporter of the Friends of Old St Paul’s and former Committee member. A highly regarded historian and writer, Diana’s expertise and editing skills were invaluable when the Friends published A Friend Indeed, The Saving of Old St Paul’s, by Elizabeth Cox. An editor of the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, Diana authored biographies of many Whanganui identities, where she grew up.
