Name/Title

Cabinet photograph [Thora Daisy Kerr Taylor]

About this object

This black and white cabinet photograph pictures Thora Daisy Kerr Taylor. In the photograph Thora is wearing a dark velvet dress with a white collar.

Thora Daisy, known as Daisy to her family, died of ‘brain fever’ on 15 September 1885, aged nine. Although it is not known for certain what was meant by ‘brain fever’, it is likely that it was some variety of meningitis.

While the death of a child was not unusual during the Victorian era, this does not mean that the loss was not felt greatly by parents and family members. In the Kerr Taylor family archives held at Alberton there are a number of mementoes which serve as poignant reminders of the family’s tragic loss, including small drawings done by Daisy and a portrait of Daisy with her older sister Adeline Violet. Daisy's parents also commissioned a stained glass window in the chancel in St. Luke’s Church in Mount Albert, Auckland, in memory of their young daughter. (1)

(1) Jan Harris, ‘Alberton and Its Family,’ 1999

For more information about the Kerr Taylor family and Alberton, which is cared for by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, visit our website.

Place Made

Auckland, New Zealand

Maker

R H Bartlett

Maker Role

Photographer

Date Made

Pre-1885

Measurements

16.7 x 10.8cm

Object Type

Cabinet photograph

Medium and Materials

Photograph and cardboard

Credit Line

Collection of Alberton, Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga

Object number

XAH.B.10

Copyright Licence  

All rights reserved

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