Maker: Angela Belle-Franklin

Panel number: 159

Petition Sheet Number: 193

Person honouring: Mrs G Holland

Relationship to makers:

Florence Jane Sears married George Ambrose Holland, a pickle manufacturer, in 1889. It was not a happy marriage and it seems that both George and Florence were alcoholics. In 1901, George was imprisoned for 14 days for assaulting Florence in public on an afternoon when they were both drunk. When confronted about the attack by a witness he replied ‘She’s only my wife.’ Then in February 1909 both Florence and George were convicted for separate cases of drunken theft committed on the same day - George for stealing a bicycle and Florence for stealing a purse.

Florence died in January 1922. Her husband remarried the following year. But less than one week after his marriage to Amy Preston he was found dead in their bed. An investigation was conducted but no evidence of foul play was found.

Panel materials: Copper wire, paua, vinyl, feathers, netting and felt as well as some cotton fabric. I already had all these materials at home.