This delightful sampler is brought to you as a printed booklet and as an instant pdf download. Details of the instant pdf download can be found HERE.

Antique samplers combine our love of needlework and history. One of the first things we do when spotting a sampler is to check family history records. So many of these girls died young, often in childbirth, but there are a few who through clues left in their sampler tell a fascinating story and take you on a journey through time.

Mary Ann Ragg recorded that she was 12 years old in 1826 when she finished her sampler. However, this is not the only clue to her identity that she left behind. The pastoral scene, red building, mature cedar trees, birds, and cartouche are characteristic to samplers stitched in the city of Sheffield.

Several years ago, Hands Across the Sea Samplers reproduced another sampler that was stitched in Sheffield, Elizabeth Furniss. Whilst researching this sampler, we discovered five girls who stitched very similar samplers. They all lived within 1 square mile of each other; in the ensuing years we found several more.

Many of these girls were baptised in the Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul. We believe that the girls shared the same needlework teacher, and all probably attended Darnall School (assuming that the teacher taught in the same school between 1816 and 1844).

We have found Mary Ann (W)Ragg being baptised on April 25, 1813 in the Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul.

Prior to the early 1900s, it was fairly common for surnames to be recorded with a wide range of spellings. Individuals may have used different versions on a day-to-day basis. Even William Shakespeare spelt his surname in at least six different ways over his lifetime.

We believe that the Mary Ann Wragg we have found is the Mary Ann Ragg who stitched the sampler. We have found Mary Ann’s parents George and Anne in the census returns living at Paradise Square, which is within the immediate area that the girls who stitched the other known samplers lived in.

Both Elizabeth Furniss’ and Mary Ann’s fathers worked as cutters. Cutlery means “that which cuts” and can be anything from pocket knives to scissors, ice skates, and scythes. Most manufacturing was concentrated within a square mile of the city centre where the families lived.

The 1841 census records show that there was an extended Wragg family living in the same street. The males were either cutters or grinders.

We have found a Mary Ann Wragg marrying in 1840 but can find no further trace of her. We wonder what life held for Mary Ann. However, we do know that several generations who came after her cherished and cared for her needlework.

With our grateful thanks to Robert L. Harris Jr. who lovingly stitched the model of Mary Ann’s sampler. At the very core of Hands Across the Sea Samplers there is a team of needleworkers who are passionate about antique samplers and being able to share those samplers with you.