Threads are in my genes!

I spent some time at my Mum's in Sussex over Easter helping her sort through bits and pieces from our family history. She is thinking of moving house this year which means going through 25+ years of 'stuff'! We came across some real treasures such as the family bible from the 1800s which I had never seen before. There was a page for births, deaths and marriages with numerous entries in beautiful handwriting and a lot of details about my ancestors which were fascinating.

It turns out that I am a descendant of the Clark family who produced Clark & Co's sewing threads in the 1800s and James Clark who invented the technique used to produce a spooled cotton thread (as opposed to skeins) which we know today as the cotton reel.

Image result for clark & Cos thread spools

Mum also showed me this amazing picture of what looks like a painting of Charles I but is in fact an embroidery that was produced by a family member called Wright Battye (!) to demonstrate the superior quality of Clark & Co threads. It was exhibited at the Yorkshire Fine Art Exhibition of 1879.

I am really thrilled to have this textiles connection in my family history but think I might need to brush up on my embroidery skills!

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Wendy Dolan talk on Art, Architecture and Stitch

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Juliette Orton

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