Dress and domesticity in 19thC Victoria: The Henty letters with Dr Laura Jocic

The State Library of Victoria holds an extensive archive of letters that were written by Mary Ann Henty and her daughters from the mid to late nineteenth century. A close reading of these letters reveals the everyday domestic arrangements, including the procurement and maintenance of dress, that governed the lives of the women of the Henty family who were the first European settlers in the Port Phillip District. Read in conjunction with the recent donation of a number of their garments to the Kew Historical Society, this lecture will discuss aspects of the Henty women’s daily life and the multiple ways they dealt with their clothing needs as they negotiated life between the pastoral property of Merino Downs, near Portland, and their Melbourne home in Kew. 

Dr Laura Jocic is a curator and historian with a specialisation in dress and textiles. In 2023 she completed her PhD at the University of Melbourne with a thesis titled “Dress in Australia: the materiality of a colonial society in the making.” Laura has worked in galleries and museums in Australia and New Zealand. In 2001 she co-founded the Costume & Textile Association of New Zealand. From 2007 to 2012 Laura was a curator of Australian Fashion and Textiles at the National Gallery of Victoria, where she curated the exhibitions Australian Made: 100 Years of Fashion and Linda Jackson Bush Couture. Laura is a Research Associate at Museums Victoria and has undertaken projects for RMIT Design Archives and Kew Historical Society and curated the exhibition Louis Kahan: Art, Theatre, Fashion for the Town Hall Gallery, Hawthorn.  

Your ticket includes tea or Market Lane coffee served before the presentation, and time to browse our exclusive range of books, gifts, and homewares at TJC Emporium.

This event is presented on-site at The Johnston Collection. Please see your ticket for details. NOTE: Tickets for this event do not include access to our exhibition-house, Fairhall. Guided tours of the current exhibition can be booked separately.

This event is supported by The Colin Holden Charitable Trust.

Image: Mary Ann Henty, Letter to Caroline Henty, 1876. State Library of Victoria. Melbourne, Australia.