Princess Alexandra’s Doll Dress
A LITTLE doll, wearing a lacy knitted dress, is on display at the Ruskin Museum in Coniston, Cumbria. It was originally owned by a Mrs Elizabeth Pepper, and was donated to the museum by her daughter, Abigail Reed. Abigail was one of the last of the hand spinners working in the famous Langdale linen industry in the Lake District, which had been established by the writer, art critic and social reformer John Ruskin in 1883.
The card displayed with this exhibit at the museum reads:
“… dressed by H.R.H Princess of Wales (later Queen Alexandra), as a present for Mrs Elizabeth Pepper, who had visited Sandringham in order to teach her and her ladies-in-waiting how to spin flax…”
After viewing the dress at the Ruskin Museum, I wanted
