Dress

Apparel

Stepping out in style

In May 1927 a Muriel Henning, wife of WA politician Charles Harriott Henning joined the country’s upper echelons for the opening of Parliament House in Canberra, wrapped in the velvety embrace of this stunning midnight blue gown. Donning the dress’s sweetheart neckline, puffed sleeves and fitted bodice, Mrs Henning must have turned heads as she mingled with the who’s who of society, the slight train of the long full skirt swishing behind her as she walked.The crowd included the likes of the Duke of York who opened the building and later became King George VI. Henning passed the dress onto her daughter, Lynette Gillam who lived in Irwin House and later donated the dress to the museum.

Available at:

Irwin Districts Historical Society and Russ Cottage

Old prison protects pioneering history

Wander through the old police house and court rooms which today house the vast Irwin Districts Historical Society collection and you can almost hear the click of chains which once bound prisoners here...

Address:

5 Waldeck St
Dongara WA 6525
Australia

Tel:

(08) 9927 1323

Email:

idhs@midwest.com.au

Open Hours

Mon to Sat 10am to 12pm

Return to collection to read more

Irwin and Districts Historical Society Overview

Ticket of leave

Ticket to life

This scrap of paper is one of just two remaining Western Australian tickets of leave which permitted convicts to travel for work. It belonged to a fellow by the name of Ben ‘Taffy’ Jones, who was...

Wildflower bag

Wildflower tourism emerges

While locals had long admired the profusion of dazzling wildflowers which erupted around Dongara each spring, it wasn’t until the 1960s that wildflower tourism emerged. The Midland Railway Company...