1859 Wedding Dress
This handsome wedding dress is believed to have been worn by Scottish-born Mary Forrest at her wedding to Samuel Rose in Busselton on 13 December 1859. At this time, brides certainly expected to wear their wedding dress again. This dress is a practical “best dress”, lacking a train or ornamentation. White wedding dresses became fashionable following the lead of Queen Victoria who wore white at her wedding in 1840. However, in 1859 in Busselton, this trend was still to be adopted. Mary was 22 years of age when she married Samuel, who was 23. Over a period of 19 years they had eleven children, seven boys and four girls.