THE Bonnets and Boats event and exhibition was held at Glen Derwent, New Norfolk during International Women’s Day week March 5 to 9.
Dr Christina Henri’s concept Roses from the Heart was the first memorial to all women sentenced to transportation as convicts to Australia (1788-1853)
As part of the Roses from the Heart memorial, which has seen 25,566 cloth bonnets made, symbolising the women whose lives previously had not been recognised, bonnets were made acknowledging the convict women aboard the Neva.
On May 13, 1835 the Neva sank off the coast of King Island. Tragically only a few of the crew and six convict women survived.
Linda Payne from the Lions Club of King Island was the guest speaker at the farewell cocktail party concluding the Bonnets and Boats exhibition and Ms Payne became the custodian of the bonnets and was given the responsibility of returning them to King Island.
The bonnets were cut out of calico washed in the sea near the King Island lighthouse and Neva shipwreck waters by King Island women, taken to Ireland by Dr Henri and the bonnets were sewn and embel- lished by members of the Irish Embroiderers Guild, Dublin.
In accepting the bonnets on behalf of the Lions Club, Mrs Payne acknowledged the com- mitment and skills needed to create the tribute.
“The weeks and months you have spent sewing a bonnet for each Neva convict, child and free women shows the greatest compassion
“As Lions, we believe kind- ness matters. We volunteer our time and energy to serve our fellow human beings and communities. Roses from the Heart fits perfectly with our ethos.”
A collection of bonnets acknowledging the Neva con- vict women and their children has been on display at the Cobh Heritage Centre, Cobh, County Cork for more than 12 years.
Dr Henri’s Roses from the Heart concept has led to hun- dreds of Australians making bonnets, many travelling to and from Tasmania and Ire- land, to view installations to acknowledge and explore their convict past.
There was also a presen- tation of two Roses from the Heart ‘convict dolls’ .
Dr. Henri said King Islanders, Janine Bayne and Linda McAllister (nee Davis) are members of the Roses from the Heart bonnet making group that meets weekly at Glen Derwent, and each sponsored a convict doll to be permanently exhibited on King Island.
The ‘convict dolls’ have been outfitted by Kate Pow- ell who is also a member. The outfits the ‘convict dolls’ are wearing, copies the cloth- ing worn by female convicts from the 1800s as depicted by a photograph from that period displayed in the Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin.’’
Mrs Payne said the bonnets would be on display at Reekara in coming weeks, with a special viewing planned for the weekend of May 13th – the anniversary of the Neva shipwreck.”