Shop Front Stories

Our next museum object on the trail is this peacock dress that was once owned by Charlotte Mason, but how does it connect to this building in Ambleside? What is the story to tell? Now it is a guest house called Thorneyfield, but at one time it was the home to a thriving dressmaking business. Here three sisters – Ruth, Clara and Isa Beaumont – set up shop to make and sell clothes to customers of Ambleside and beyond. Different rooms in the building had different functions. There was a fitting room on the first floor with the working rooms above. We know that this dress was the production of Ruth Beaumont because her name is stitched in gold-coloured thread into the waistband. The dress can roughly be dated to between 1907-1919, and from detailing it would indicate to have been made for an older woman, although some of the dress still shows hints to fashions of the day. For example, the high waistline and shawl around the top give the effect of a blouse underneath. This was common for the period around the First World War. Shortly after the war, dresses like this started to disappear in favour of clothing that was easier to put on.

Charlotte Mason’s connection to Ambleside is that she established the “House of Education”, a teacher training college, in 1892 that is now home to the University of Cumbria. In the time that Charlotte would have worn this dress, she would have been in her 60s-70s, matching the identification of the dress having been made for an older woman. The Armitt also has another dress of Charlotte Mason’s in the collection and although this peacock one appears to have been more elaborate in its detailing, the other one we have is actually considered more fancy and would have been used for special occasions, unlike this one here which would have been used as a practical and functional day dress.