This wonderful wedding ensemble was worn by Alice May Chapman on her marriage to Walter Stephen Cooper in 1906.

It has been donated to the Wingham Museum by Alice’s granddaughters Carolyn Lynch (L) snd Elizabeth Robinson.

The wonderful Wingham Museum is a treasure house of local historical memorabilia. If you’re considering a donation, here’s how it works.

The donor signs a ‘Deed of Gift with Transfer of Ownership’ which transfers ownership of the item to the museum. Each item is assessed by an expert panel and a decision made as to whether the museum can accept it. There is, however, a box which you can tick if you’d like the item returned to you if the museum is unable to use it. Items which cannot be used by the museum, and are not wanted back by the donor, are decommissioned and approved for auction by the Collections Management Committee. After being sold, a commission is paid and the rest of the money is donated back to Manning Valley Historical Society. This process is closely monitored, and because of limited storage capacity, they only accept items in reasonable condition and which have connection to the Manning Valley, with a significant providence to a local family, a local event or items which were in general used by our pioneers.