Queen Victoria’s wedding lace, made in Beer Devon, was on display at the newly refurbished Kensington Palace during the Summer of 2012, within The Victoria Revealed exhibition. The three parts of the wedding lace, i.e. the flounce, bertha and sleeve frills complement each other in design, but the flounce had not been on display in the UK since 1982, when it was part of a major maritime celebration in the coastal village of Beer. At that time the lace flounce was transported from London with a Police escort, but the ‘walkie talkie’ communications of the day did not work once the Police arrived in the village due to the high cliffs – things are not much better today! Another of the security measures was that pairs of local residents had to sleep overnight on hard pews in the village church; one being alert at all times!
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Victoria Revealed showed aspects of her life from childhood to death, with many personal items being displayed, but it was her wedding lace that, naturally, interested us the most. The dress of white, (now cream) silk satin had the lace bertha and sleeve frills attached, but the court train originally attached at the waist was not shown. This dress is often credited with starting the fashion for ‘white’ wedding dresses, although she was not the first to wear the colour for a wedding. The lace flounce was separately displayed as part of the Victoria Diamond Jubilee display. We spent a long time studying the fine detail of the original lace, noticing many things that you do no see when you look at a photograph. The one big plus to the exhibition was that photography was permitted – what more could we want?!
The Western Times, a Devon newspaper wrote on Feb 15th 1840 - |
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“Her Majesty the Queen wore on her head a wreath of orange blossoms and a veil of Honiton lace, with a necklace and earrings of diamonds. Her Majesty’s dress was of white satin with a very deep trimming of Honiton lace, in design similar to that of the veil. The body and sleeves were richly trimmed with the same material to correspond. The train was of white satin and was also lined with white satin, trimmed with orange blossom. The dress was made by Mrs Bettans, her Majesty’s dressmaker. The cost of the lace alone on the Queen’s dress was £1000, the satin of which was of pure white was manufactured at Spitalfields.
The lace of HM’s bridal dress though popularly called Honiton lace was really worked at the village of Beer, which is situated near the sea coast about 10 miles from Honiton. It was executed under the direction of Miss Bidney, a native of the village, who went from London, at the command of HM for the express purpose of superintending the work. More than 200 persons were employed upon it from March to November during the past year. These poor women derive a scanty subsistence from making lace, but the trade has latterly so declined, that had it not been for the kind consideration of HM in ordering this dress, they would have been destitute during the winter. No one can form an idea of the gratitude they express who has not heard it from their own lips. The lace which formed the flounce of the dress measures 4 yards and is ¾ yard in depth. The pattern is rich and exquisitely tasteful in design, drawn expressly for the purpose and surpasses anything that has ever been executed either in England or in Brussels. So anxious was the manufacturer that Her Majesty should have a dress perfectly unique that she has since the completion of the lace destroyed all the designs. The veil, which is of the same material and is made to correspond afforded employment to the poor lacemakers for more than 6 weeks. It is a good yard an a half square.
Among the morning dresses of the Queen’s trousseau is one of very beautiful design, entirely made of Honiton lace with handsome flounces and worn over white silk. The lace for this dress was made by Miss Clarke of Honiton.”
The lace of HM’s bridal dress though popularly called Honiton lace was really worked at the village of Beer, which is situated near the sea coast about 10 miles from Honiton. It was executed under the direction of Miss Bidney, a native of the village, who went from London, at the command of HM for the express purpose of superintending the work. More than 200 persons were employed upon it from March to November during the past year. These poor women derive a scanty subsistence from making lace, but the trade has latterly so declined, that had it not been for the kind consideration of HM in ordering this dress, they would have been destitute during the winter. No one can form an idea of the gratitude they express who has not heard it from their own lips. The lace which formed the flounce of the dress measures 4 yards and is ¾ yard in depth. The pattern is rich and exquisitely tasteful in design, drawn expressly for the purpose and surpasses anything that has ever been executed either in England or in Brussels. So anxious was the manufacturer that Her Majesty should have a dress perfectly unique that she has since the completion of the lace destroyed all the designs. The veil, which is of the same material and is made to correspond afforded employment to the poor lacemakers for more than 6 weeks. It is a good yard an a half square.
Among the morning dresses of the Queen’s trousseau is one of very beautiful design, entirely made of Honiton lace with handsome flounces and worn over white silk. The lace for this dress was made by Miss Clarke of Honiton.”
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The main facts that have been written over the years about the wedding lace, are that:
Was the lace originally ordered for the wedding? Did William Dyce design it?
Yes and No. The flounce was designed by William Dyce, although there is no record of his being commissioned to do so. The lace was made during the months of March – November 1839. No engagement had been announced when it was begun. Whilst it was being made, speculation was rife about a Royal marriage, BUT the engagement did not happen until October 15th 1839. So was the flounce ordered for the benefit of the British lace makers? Did the flounce become the wedding lace when it was completed and received by Victoria the month after the engagement and when she was probably deciding upon her wedding outfit as she had rejected the idea of wearing her official Royal robes, so as not to upstage Prince Albert? The Queen was so delighted with the exquisite work put into the lace that she commanded Jane Bidney to attend the wedding. The lace frills, bertha and veil were commissioned in December 1839, after the announcement of the engagement, and the receipt of the flounce; so only 2 months to make these exquisite items!!
- It was designed by William Dyce, a pre-Raphaelite painter and head of the Govt. School of Design at Somerset House, later the Royal College of Art.
- that it was made in Beer , organised by Miss Jane Bidney and cost £1000,
- that it was worked on by 200 lacemakers and the patterns/prickings were destroyed.
Was the lace originally ordered for the wedding? Did William Dyce design it?
Yes and No. The flounce was designed by William Dyce, although there is no record of his being commissioned to do so. The lace was made during the months of March – November 1839. No engagement had been announced when it was begun. Whilst it was being made, speculation was rife about a Royal marriage, BUT the engagement did not happen until October 15th 1839. So was the flounce ordered for the benefit of the British lace makers? Did the flounce become the wedding lace when it was completed and received by Victoria the month after the engagement and when she was probably deciding upon her wedding outfit as she had rejected the idea of wearing her official Royal robes, so as not to upstage Prince Albert? The Queen was so delighted with the exquisite work put into the lace that she commanded Jane Bidney to attend the wedding. The lace frills, bertha and veil were commissioned in December 1839, after the announcement of the engagement, and the receipt of the flounce; so only 2 months to make these exquisite items!!
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Who was Jane Bidney?
She was the daughter of Thomas & Hannah Bidney, born 17 Sept 1802 in Beer, Devon. On the 1841 Census she was registered, aged 35, as a Lace Manufacturer of 76 St. James St., Middlesex, employing 2 other women and 2 female servants.
She had the honour of receiving Victoria’s 1st Royal Appointment to a maker of Honiton lace on 14th August 1837, during which year she was paid £12-12-0d. In 1838 she was paid £168-16-0d and then in 1839/40 for the ‘wedding lace’. On receipt of the commission to make a lace flounce, it might seem appropriate that she ask the lace workers of her native village, Beer, to make it for her, as they were probably supplying most of her other lace.
Not long after the Royal Wedding Jane seems to disappear from the lace Industry and this is because at the age of 40 she married Nathanial Washbourne, an Alderman and widower from Gloucester, where she resided until his death, then moving to and ending her years living in Torquay. She died in 1882, leaving small legacies in her will to the Beer Unitarian Church, Beer Lifeboat appeal and a few Beer lacemakers.
Were 200 Beer lacemakers involved?
88 lacemakers are recorded in Beer on the 1841 Census, but that Census only recorded single working women or those registered as the head of the house: the occupation’s of married women were not recorded. Therefore it is quite probable that the 200 were all from Beer, but if not some may have come from the nearby parish of Branscombe, where 133 lacemakers were recorded. There were also no lace sewers (those who joined the sprigs together)on the 1841 Census for either Beer or Branscombe, but the 1851 Census has 12 lace sewers, six of whom were of an age that they would have been joining sprigs in 1841. No antique prickings of the sprigs have surfaced since then, so their destruction is probably correct.
The lacemakers, through Jane Bidney, were sent money by the Queen to hold a Tea Party on the day of the wedding at the New Inn.
Did the lace cost £1000?
We do not think so. The newspaper reports of Jan. 1840 all quoted this figure but Queen Victoria’s wardrobe accounts do not have any entries for payments to Jane Bidney of this amount. She was paid £34-0-0d during the 2nd quarter of 1839, when the flounce was started and £250-0-0d during the 1st quarter of 1840; the wedding taking place on February 10th. This £284-0-0d converts to £12524.40 (2005 rate) and was the last payment to Jane Bidney entered in the Royal Accounts. She had been paid a total of £464-18-0 which converts to £20502.09 (2005 rate) It would appear that either money was paid from some other account or Victorian newspapers also used poetic license!
What Honiton lace fillings that were used?
At least 16 lace fillings were worked within the design of the wedding lace, varying from simple to complex. These are
Brick; Butterflies; Cartwheel & Linked Cartwheels; Cushion; Devonshire winkie pin bars and leadworks1; Diamond; Diamond with divided leadworks; Enclosed four pin bars and leadworks; Farthing dots with four pin buds and a leadwork; Leadworks; Pin and a stitch; Pin and a stitch with divided leadworks; Square snatch bars and circles2; Stars; Straight Pin.
1 An old name from Lillie Trivett; now known as ‘Whole stitch bars and leadworks’ 2 Also known as ‘Wide snatch bars and circles’
Most of these fillings are available in the wide variety of books on Honiton lace. Many are still in use today but others, as style and fashion has changed, are rarely worked by modern lacemakers.
She was the daughter of Thomas & Hannah Bidney, born 17 Sept 1802 in Beer, Devon. On the 1841 Census she was registered, aged 35, as a Lace Manufacturer of 76 St. James St., Middlesex, employing 2 other women and 2 female servants.
She had the honour of receiving Victoria’s 1st Royal Appointment to a maker of Honiton lace on 14th August 1837, during which year she was paid £12-12-0d. In 1838 she was paid £168-16-0d and then in 1839/40 for the ‘wedding lace’. On receipt of the commission to make a lace flounce, it might seem appropriate that she ask the lace workers of her native village, Beer, to make it for her, as they were probably supplying most of her other lace.
Not long after the Royal Wedding Jane seems to disappear from the lace Industry and this is because at the age of 40 she married Nathanial Washbourne, an Alderman and widower from Gloucester, where she resided until his death, then moving to and ending her years living in Torquay. She died in 1882, leaving small legacies in her will to the Beer Unitarian Church, Beer Lifeboat appeal and a few Beer lacemakers.
Were 200 Beer lacemakers involved?
88 lacemakers are recorded in Beer on the 1841 Census, but that Census only recorded single working women or those registered as the head of the house: the occupation’s of married women were not recorded. Therefore it is quite probable that the 200 were all from Beer, but if not some may have come from the nearby parish of Branscombe, where 133 lacemakers were recorded. There were also no lace sewers (those who joined the sprigs together)on the 1841 Census for either Beer or Branscombe, but the 1851 Census has 12 lace sewers, six of whom were of an age that they would have been joining sprigs in 1841. No antique prickings of the sprigs have surfaced since then, so their destruction is probably correct.
The lacemakers, through Jane Bidney, were sent money by the Queen to hold a Tea Party on the day of the wedding at the New Inn.
Did the lace cost £1000?
We do not think so. The newspaper reports of Jan. 1840 all quoted this figure but Queen Victoria’s wardrobe accounts do not have any entries for payments to Jane Bidney of this amount. She was paid £34-0-0d during the 2nd quarter of 1839, when the flounce was started and £250-0-0d during the 1st quarter of 1840; the wedding taking place on February 10th. This £284-0-0d converts to £12524.40 (2005 rate) and was the last payment to Jane Bidney entered in the Royal Accounts. She had been paid a total of £464-18-0 which converts to £20502.09 (2005 rate) It would appear that either money was paid from some other account or Victorian newspapers also used poetic license!
What Honiton lace fillings that were used?
At least 16 lace fillings were worked within the design of the wedding lace, varying from simple to complex. These are
Brick; Butterflies; Cartwheel & Linked Cartwheels; Cushion; Devonshire winkie pin bars and leadworks1; Diamond; Diamond with divided leadworks; Enclosed four pin bars and leadworks; Farthing dots with four pin buds and a leadwork; Leadworks; Pin and a stitch; Pin and a stitch with divided leadworks; Square snatch bars and circles2; Stars; Straight Pin.
1 An old name from Lillie Trivett; now known as ‘Whole stitch bars and leadworks’ 2 Also known as ‘Wide snatch bars and circles’
Most of these fillings are available in the wide variety of books on Honiton lace. Many are still in use today but others, as style and fashion has changed, are rarely worked by modern lacemakers.
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