Silk vestment

In 1924 12-year-old Mullewa boy Selby Arnolds fell into a railway water supply dam. Monsignor John Hawes was among those who tried to rescue the child, diving repeatedly into the muddy waters in a desperate attempt to save him. Later, Hawes conducted the funeral service for the boy and designed a monument for his grave. Grateful for Hawe's care, the boy’s mother, Barbara Arnold, struck up a friendship with the priest who’d tried so hard to save her son. She made him this silk vestment, which he wore during his time as parish priest in Mullewa. The duo swapped letters over the decades, continuing their friendship through pen long after Hawes moved to the Bahamas.