Name/Title

Book, 'The Prize 1884'

About this object

This hardbound book, entitled ‘The Prize’, belonged to nine-year-old Thora Daisy Kerr Taylor, known as Daisy to her family. The book contains black and white as well as coloured illustrations and Daisy’s name has been written on the front cover.

Daisy 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 form 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 by Daisy and a portrait of Daisy with her older sister Adeline Violet. Daisy’s parents also commissioned a stained 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.

Medium and Materials

Paper and cardboard

Measurements

23 x 17cm

Date Made

1884

Place Made

London, England

Publisher

Wells, Gardner, Darton & Co.

Publication Date

1884

Publication Place

London, England

Credit Line

Collection of Alberton, Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga

Object Type

Book

Object number

XAH.GH.358

Copyright Licence  

All rights reserved

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