Wedding Cake

Craft

A convict’s wedding gift

As you admire the elaborate design and workmanship of this tiered, shell wedding cake you may be surprised to learn it was fashioned by the hands of a convict. William ‘Crabbie’ Davis (1843 - 1920) made the shell-cake as a wedding gift to one of his 11 children. The former Englishmen was convicted of arson in 1842 and sent to the WA colony as a convict to serve out his 10-year sentence. He earned his nick-name ‘Crabbie’ as a ticket-of-leave man on Rottnest, after being caught for the punishable offence of fishing. He argued he was not fishing but crabbing! Crabbie went on to earn a living from fishing from his dingy and selling his catch on the streets of Geraldton. He was the great grandfather of former WA premier Dr Geoff Gallop.

Available at:

Museum of Geraldton

Harbourside museum showcasing rich shipwreck history

From its enviable position sprawled along the waters of the Batavia Coast Marina, the Museum of Geraldton paints a picture of the region’s colourful past - from its rich Indigenous heritage through to...

Address:

2 Museum Pl
Geraldton WA 6530
Australia

Tel:

(08) 9431 8393

Email:

reception@museum.wa.gov.au

Open Hours

7 days 9.30am - 3pm. Closed public holidays

Return to collection to read more

Jim Joseph medals

Indigenous war time mementos

Wajarri man James (Jim) Joseph was born in Yalgoo in 1912 and worked on farms and stations across the red heart of the Murchison and Gascoyne regions. Come World War II he put up his hand for service...

Ella - Then and Now by Julie Dowling

Artwork captures one woman through time

Acclaimed artist Julie Dowling painted these ‘then’ and ‘now’ paintings to depict an Aboriginal woman called Ella. Ella had worked with Dowling’s grandmother in the Gascoyne bush in the 1950s and...