Available as a printed booklet and as a pdf download. Click HERE for the PDF download
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This is a tale of two samplers.
In the March of 2019, I stumbled across a stunning sampler in an auction catalogue. The sampler had been worked by Jane Harris Hogson in 1833. When Jane arrived, there were many oohs and aahs amongst my needlework friends. I decided to gift Jane to my dearest friend Sandra as she had fallen in love with the sampler. We both share a passion for large samplers with sweeping floral borders.
Amazingly, I then came across an almost identical sampler for sale which I was lucky enough to acquire. The second sampler was dated 1834 and was stitched by Charlotte Amelia Stevens. There was no doubt that these two samplers were closely connected.
Both girls were 13 years old when they worked their samplers. Other than their names and the years (1833 and 1834) there are no discernible differences. The composition of the samplers, colours, verses and the wording of the dedications are the same. Jane finished her sampler on Friday, September 20, 1833, and Charlotte on Thursday, June 19, 1834.
When Sandra received Jane, she initially planned to reproduce her. However, when I acquired Charlotte, Sandra decided that she would recreate Charlotte, so that the two girls could hang together in her home. It has been an epic four-year journey for Sandra with the girls. The sampler presented to you within this booklet is Sandra’s interpretation of Charlotte and Jane.
At the start of my research, the two girls were initially illusive. Jane’s surname was spelt Hodgson in the family history records. In the 1800s the spelling of names was much less consistent than today. Many people did not read or write, and parish clerks and census enumerators wrote names down in various ways.
I eventually found both girls in the village of Stoke. The village lies in the parish of Stoke Damerel, one of the ancient parishes of Devon. The parish includes stretches of the coast west of Plymouth and north of Devonport.
The town of “Plymouth Dock” grew up in the parish around dockyards established at the start of the 18th century. Plymouth Dock was renamed Devonport in 1823. Today, Stoke is part of the City of Plymouth. The suburb is now densely built up with family houses and is bisected by the Great Western railway line from Paddington to Penzance.
Jane Harris Hodgson was born in the village of Stoke in 1820. Her parents were William Hodgson, a road surveyor, and Martha Stephens, a Quaker. We suspect that Jane and Amelia were cousins through the Stephens family.
Jane married James Strickland, a builder, in the second quarter of 1839. In the 1841 census return the couple are recorded as living in Duke Street, Stoke with their one-year-old daughter, also named Jane. Shortly after the census was compiled, our Jane passed away at just twenty-one years old. James remarried one year later. In the 1851 census there is no mention of Jane’s daughter living with her father and her stepmother, nor her grandparents. We can find no death record for Jane junior.
Touchingly, following our Jane’s death, both her brother and sister named daughters after her. She was remembered in the Hodgson family.
Charlotte Amelia Stephens was born in 1821 also in the village of Stoke. In the last quarter of 1845, she married Arthur Geake, a warehouseman. In the 1851 census return Charlotte and Arthur had moved from the south-west coast to the north of England. They were recorded as living at 86 Rutland Street, Hulme in Lancashire together with their two children and a servant. Arthur was described as a commercial traveller. The family do not appear in the 1861 census return, possibly as their surname was incorrectly transcribed.
Their son John Arthur Geake died at eight years old in 1855. Arthur died in 1865 aged 55 and Charlotte died on May 11, 1867 at 2 Devonshire Terrace, Moss Side, Manchester. She was forty-six years old. We believe that they lived a comfortable life.
Their daughter Amelia is recorded in the 1871 census as a property owner. She married Frederick Foster on July 5, 1871 in Manchester Cathedral. Amelia and Frederick went on to have ten children. Amelia lived to eighty-three years of age.
I have been unable to find any information about schools for girls in Stoke in the 1820s and 1830s. I believe that Charlotte and Jane attended a fee-paying school. Both girls were able pupils and their samplers would have been displayed proudly by their parents.
Please note that the border in the sampler requires careful counting when stitching. Sandra found that she had miscounted when stitching the model. Please follow the graph and not the photograph!
Sandra and I wish you many happy hours spent with your needle and Charlotte. We hope that Charlotte will soon hang proudly on your sampler wall.
Today, we remember Jane and Charlotte through their needlework.
Thread Legend
Sandra’s interpretation of this stunning sampler has been worked with a palette of 28 colours selected from the front of the original sampler. The model was stitched using Soie d’Alger (SDA) from Au Ver à Soie, and we have included below conversions for Soie 100.3 and DMC.
SDA 1 strand on 40-46ct F13 ~ Ecru
516 ~ Moss green ~ dark
525 x 2 ~ Golden olive ~ medium
526 ~ Golden olive ~ dark
622 ~ Yellow ~ medium
1024 ~ Raspberry ~ medium
1446 ~ Navy blue ~ medium
1742 ~ Grey green ~ very light
2145 x 2 ~ Olive green ~ very dark
2213 ~ Olive green ~ medium
2223 ~ Olive green ~ light
2231 ~ Yellow ~ pale
2242 ~ Yellow beige ~ medium
2543 x 2 ~ Straw ~ light
2756 ~ Grey green ~ light
2758 ~ Grey green ~ dark
2912 ~ Terracotta ~ light
2915 ~ Salmon ~ medium
3711 ~ Cream
3745 x 2 ~ Golden olive ~ very dark
3812 ~ Tan ~ very light
4113 ~ Beige brown ~ light
4241 ~ Tawny ~ light
4612 ~ Copper
4623 ~ Raspberry ~ dark
5115 ~ Grape ~ very light
5384 ~ Grey green ~ medium
Noir x 2 ~ Black
SDA 1 strand on 36ct F13 ~ Ecru
516 x 2 ~ Moss green ~ dark
525 x 4 ~ Golden olive ~ medium
526 ~ Golden olive ~ dark
622 x 2 ~ Yellow ~ medium
1024 ~ Raspberry ~ medium
1446 ~ Navy blue ~ medium
1742 ~ Grey green ~ very light
2145 x 2 ~ Olive green ~ very dark
2213 ~ Olive green ~ medium
2223 ~ Olive green ~ light
2231 ~ Yellow ~ pale
2242 ~ Yellow beige ~ medium
2543 x 2 ~ Straw ~ light
2758 ~ Grey green ~ light
2758 ~ Grey green ~ dark
2912 ~ Terracotta ~ light
2915 ~ Salmon ~ medium
3711 ~ Cream
3745 x 2 ~ Golden olive ~ very dark
3812 ~ Tan ~ very light
4113 ~ Beige brown ~ light
4241 ~ Tawny ~ light
4612 ~ Copper
4623 ~ Raspberry ~ dark
5115 ~ Grape ~ very light
5384 ~ Grey green ~ medium
Noir x 2 ~ Black
SDA 2 strands on 28-32ctF13 x 2 ~ Ecru
516 x 3 ~ Moss green ~ dark
525 x 4 ~ Golden olive ~ medium
526 x 2 ~ Golden olive ~ dark
622 x 3 ~ Yellow ~ medium
1024 ~ Raspberry ~ medium
1446 x 2 ~ Navy blue ~ medium
1742 ~ Grey green ~ very light
2145 x 4 ~ Olive green ~ very dark
2213 x 2 ~ Olive green ~ medium
2223 x 2 ~ Olive green ~ light
2231 x 2~ Yellow ~ pale
2242x 2 ~ Yellow beige ~ medium
2543 x 4~ Straw ~ light
2758 ~ Grey green ~ light
2758 ~ Grey green ~ dark
2912 ~ Terracotta ~ light
2915 ~ Salmon ~ medium
3711 x 2 ~ Cream
3745 x 4 ~ Golden olive ~ very dark
3812 ~ Tan ~ very light
4113 ~ Beige brown ~ light
4241 ~ Tawny ~ light
4612 ~ Copper
4623 x 2 ~ Raspberry ~ dark
5115 ~ Grape ~ very light
5384 x 2 ~ Grey green ~ medium
Noir x 4 ~ Black
100.3 1 strand on 40-56ct 029 ~ Grey green ~ medium
048 ~ Golden olive ~ very dark
071 ~ Grey green ~ very light
80 ~ Ecru
088 ~ Tawny ~ light
089 ~ Copper
129 ~ Golden olive ~ dark
142 ~ Yellow ~ pale
148 ~ Straw ~ light
149 ~ Yellow ~ medium
152~ Moss green ~ dark
154 ~ Tan ~ very light
171 ~ Grey green ~ dark
176 ~ Terracotta ~ light
179 ~ Olive green ~ very dark
199 ~ Olive green ~ medium
254 ~ Grape ~ very light
307 ~ Raspberry ~ dark
329 ~ Olive green ~ light
393 ~ Raspberry ~ medium
494 ~ Salmon ~ medium
538 ~ Beige brown ~ light
616 ~ Golden olive ~ medium
661 ~ Yellow beige ~ medium
621 ~ Grey green ~ light
769 ~ Navy blue ~ medium
Crème ~ Cream
Noir ~ Black
DMC 1 strand on 40-46ctEcru ~ Ecru
154 ~ Grape ~ very light
310 ~ Black
311 ~ Navy blue ~ medium
580 ~ Moss green ~ dark
712 ~ Cream
730 ~ Olive green ~ very dark
733 ~ Olive green ~ medium
734 ~ Olive green ~ light
738 ~ Tan ~ very light
743 ~ Yellow ~ medium
829 ~ Golden olive ~ very dark
830 ~ Golden olive ~ dark
831 x 2 ~ Golden olive ~ medium
841 ~ Beige brown ~ light
921 ~ Copper
926 ~ Grey green ~ medium
927 ~ Grey green ~ light
928 ~ Grey green ~ very light
951 ~ Tawny ~ light
3046 ~ Yellow beige ~ medium
3712 ~ Salmon ~ medium
3768 ~ Grey green ~ dark
3779 ~ Terracotta ~ light
3822 ~ Straw ~ light
3823 ~ Yellow ~ pale
3831 ~ Raspberry ~ dark
3832 ~ Raspberry ~ medium
DMC 2 strands on 36ctEcru ~ Ecru
154 ~ Grape ~ very light
310 x 2 ~ Black
311 ~ Navy blue ~ medium
580 x 2 ~ Moss green ~ dark
712 x 2 ~ Cream
730 x 2~ Olive green ~ very dark
733 x 2~ Olive green ~ medium
734 ~ Olive green ~ light
738 ~ Tan ~ very light
743 x 2 ~ Yellow ~ medium
829 x 2 ~ Golden olive ~ very dark
830 ~ Golden olive ~ dark
831 x 3 ~ Golden olive ~ medium
841 ~ Beige brown ~ light
921 ~ Copper
926 ~ Grey green ~ medium
927 ~ Grey green ~ light
928 ~ Grey green ~ very light
951 ~ Tawny ~ light
3046 ~ Yellow beige ~ medium
3712 ~ Salmon ~ medium
3768 ~ Grey green ~ dark
3779 ~ Terracotta ~ light
3822 x 2 ~ Straw ~ light
3823 x 2 ~ Yellow ~ pale
3831 x 2 ~ Raspberry ~ dark
3832 ~ Raspberry ~ medium
DMC 2 strands on 28-32ctEcru ~ Ecru
154 ~ Grape ~ very light
310 x 3 ~ Black
311 ~ Navy blue ~ medium
580 x 3 ~ Moss green ~ dark
712 x 2 ~ Cream
730 x 3~ Olive green ~ very dark
733 x 2~ Olive green ~ medium
734 ~ Olive green ~ light
738 ~ Tan ~ very light
743 x 2 ~ Yellow ~ medium
829 x 3 ~ Golden olive ~ very dark
830 ~ Golden olive ~ dark
831 x 3 ~ Golden olive ~ medium
841 ~ Beige brown ~ light
921 ~ Copper
926 x 3 ~ Grey green ~ medium
927 ~ Grey green ~ light
928 ~ Grey green ~ very light
951 ~ Tawny ~ light
3046 ~ Yellow beige ~ medium
3712 ~ Salmon ~ medium
3768 ~ Grey green ~ dark
3779 ~ Terracotta ~ light
3822 x 3 ~ Straw ~ light
3823 x 2 ~ Yellow ~ pale
3831 x 2 ~ Raspberry ~ dark
3832 ~ Raspberry ~ medium
