Barbery Butcher 1802, a sampler from Norfolk, is available as a printed booklet and as a PDF download. Click HERE for the PDF download.
We are delighted to present this exquisite reproduction of a Norfolk sampler, originally completed on 14 December 1802 by Barbery Butcher, when she was just nine years old.
Worked with remarkable diligence and charm, the original sampler is filled with a rich array of motifs contained within a meandering floral border, heavily laden with blooms. Throughout the sampler there are many thoughtful details that speaks to the young maker’s creativity and skill.
Barbery Butcher was baptised on 8 November 1793 in the parish of Gressenhall, Norfolk, England, during the Georgian era, a period marked by profound social, political, and cultural change. This was the age of the early Industrial Revolution, the rise of Romanticism in art and literature, and the expanding influence of the British Empire. Her parents were Robert Butcher and Frances (née Cliffen), who married on 1 August 1785 at Hoe, Norfolk. Parish records show that Robert was literate, signing his name with confidence, while Frances made her mark with an “X,” a poignant reminder of the educational divide of the time.
Barbery was one of four children—three girls and one boy—and was noted in the baptismal register as being “privately baptised.” Such baptisms were performed at home when an infant was thought unlikely to survive, underscoring the fragility of early life in the late 18th century.
In 1820, Barbery married William Backlog, an agricultural labourer, in Honningham, Norfolk. Backlog is an unusually rare surname, with census records showing only 21 individuals bearing the name in 1881, most of them in Norfolk. Barbery and William had two children, a son and a daughter. Following William’s death in 1848, Barbery lived as a widow in Folly Lane, Gressenhall, where she appears in the 1851, 1861, and 1871 census returns, residing with her son Henry and his family. Like his father, Henry worked as an agricultural labourer.
Barbery died in 1875, aged 82, and is buried alongside her husband and her son Henry, who died in 1891.
This sampler has been faithfully reproduced using a carefully selected palette of seven colours, drawn directly from the original sampler. The model was stitched using Soie 100.3 from Au Ver à Soie, and thread conversions are included.
The sampler is worked with cross stitches laid over two threads of linen, with seven cross stitches laid over one thread of linen.
The reproduction was painstakingly charted by Lisa Brown, and the model was lovingly stitched by The Contented Stitcher. The two bees visible on the model sampler are the signature of the model stitcher and are not part of the original sampler design.
At the very heart of Hands Across the Sea Samplers is a dedicated team of needleworkers who are passionate about antique samplers and committed to sharing these remarkable works of needlework history.
