NURSING CHAIR
1897 - 1932Red padded vinyl nursing chair with very low legs. Vinyl padding has decorative tacks all round and a headrest separated by an ornate carved wooden panel. The two front legs have small castors on them.
The nursing chair was first used by Ellen Maria Marsh (nee Buckingham, 1875-1936) to nurse her children in her Kelmscott home between 1897 and 1916. Ellen nursed six children, Claude Robert (1897), Stanley Thomas (1899), Norman Lester (1900), Edna Earle (1902), Owen Henry (1904) and Vernon Wallace (1916). Ellen had married Robert George Marsh in 1896 in Kelmscott.
In 1923 Norman married Beatrice Briggs and moved to a farm in Mundijong. When they had their first child, Keith Thomas (1924) the nursing chair was given to Beatrice to use. Norman and Beatrice had another four children, Arnold Norman (1926, Ronald Robert (1927), Mervyn Roy (1930) and Lindsey John (1932). Beatrice held onto the chair until she donated it to the museum in 1976.
Details
Details
This object is part of a collection of items associated with the Marsh family who have used this item to nurse their children in Kelmscott since 1897, and passed down through the family until donated to the museum by Beatrice Briggs in 1976 after nursing 11 of the Marsh family children through two generations.
The Victorian nursing chair, was traditional a partially upholstered low chair that allowed mothers to interact with their small children without the need to bend whilst wearing a corset, as was custom during the 19th century.
