Department: Social History

This sampler was embroidered by Ellen Lingard in 1869, when she was 12 years old. Ellen has embroidered the alphabet in both the upper and lower cases along with the numbers one to seven. The embroidered text at the bottom of the sampler reads: 'Ellen Lingard/Aged 12 Years/National School 1869/Sheffield'. Two small brown animals, possibly dogs, are embroidered on either side of the inscription. Samplers were increasingly used as educational tools for young girls during the late nineteenth century and the coarse canvas and brightly coloured wool used by Ellen is typical of classroom needlework. Also characteristic of late nineteenth-century samplers are the two baskets of flowers which Ellen has embroidered, a design which was particularly popular during this period.