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The moment I first saw this beautiful red sampler, I knew that it was one that I wanted to stitch. Dinah Elizabeth Disney worked her sampler in Thurlton in the county of Norfolk, England in the year 1876.
Neither Dinah nor Disney are common names, and we were able to easily locate our young sampler maker in family history records. Dinah is a Hebrew name, and the surname of Disney is one of many that the Norman Conquest brought to England in 1066. It was originally d’Isigny (“from Isigny”), coming from the town of Isigny-sur-Mer.
Dinah was 12 years old when she finished her sampler. She was born in the year 1864 in the village Terrington St Clement some 7 miles west of King’s Lynn. Dinah was one of eight children born to Frederick Disney, a miller, and his wife Mary Ann, née Reed.
By the time of the 1871 census return the family had moved from a windmill in Terrington St Clement to a windmill in the village of Thorpe. The village is less than 1.5 miles from Thurlton where Dinah worked her sampler.
On May 18, 1886, at the age of 22 years, Dinah married Clement Allen Knapp, a farmer. They both signed their marriage certificate with a fine hand indicating that they were educated.
Dinah and Clement had 8 children; their eldest, a son, was born just short of 7 months after their marriage. Dinah outlived three of her sons. Her youngest son Bertie was killed whilst serving with the 9th Battalion of the Suffolk Regiment at the Battle of the Somme in The Great War.
In the 1921 census return Dinah can be found living at the Black Swan Inn, Wattisfield, Diss, where her husband, whilst still a farmer, was also the innkeeper. Dinah died in 1934 aged 70 years. Clement died 2 years later.
Dinah’s monochrome sampler was reproduced using Soie 100.3 #664 from Au Ver à Soie, and we have included conversions for Soie d’Alger (#2924) and DMC (#304).
The sampler was executed with cross stitches laid over two threads of linen and four-sided stitch. The sampler is suitable for needleworkers of all levels of ability and can be worked on Aida or linen. The suggested linens for the sampler are Maple Bar by Cedar River Linen for a “clean” look or Dirty Tea Cup by Needle and Flax Linen for an “aged” look.
