Wagga

History

Gwenyth Fletcher (nee Thompson) was born in 1922 in Burwood. At six months of age her family moved to Blackheath where she lived until her marriage to John Fletcher. When Gwenyth was four years old, her grandfather was the mayor of Blackheath and as such, he had to welcome the Duke and Duchess of Kent to the town. Gwenyth presented the future King George VI and his wife Elizabeth with a posy of flowers as part of the welcoming ceremony.

John and Gwenyth were married in 1951 and in 1952 they moved to Canowindra. John was working for the Presbyterian Church and they needed an assistant sheep worker at Ernabella (now Pukatja), a remote First Nations community, in the far North West of South Australia and he had worked there prior to his marriage. The work involved sheep, vehicles and general handy man work, and trips to Finke (railway 200 miles east).

After marriage John was again asked to work at Ernabella. He and Gwenyth left for Ernabella in 1953 and returned in November. They then bought a property in Canowindra and the family stayed for four years before returning to Ernabella. Two children were born whilst they were in Canowindra.

The family stayed for eight years at Ernabella from 1958 to April 1966. During the time at Ernabella and Fregon, three more children were born. In May 1966, the family returned to the farm in Canowindra. John and Gwenyth retired from the farm in 1985 and moved to South Canowindra.

The Wagga was probably made during the time at Ernabella from children's knits and other leftovers. John had to camp out from the home a lot in order to muster sheep and the desert nights are cold. There is evidence (ties) that Gwenyth made the wagga into a swag-like product that John could easily carry.

There were few resources available to her in the remote region, so she used what she had. Gwenyth was known for her reuse of everything – she never threw anything out. Everything was repurposed or recycled.

Gwenyth Fletcher was my mother-in-law. Because I was interested in quilts/quilting and patchwork she gave me the blanket instead of throwing it out. She gave it to me during the 1990s.

- Donor, November 2025

Description

Wagga blanket with base made from two different beige/light khaki blankets. One of the blankets is lightly striped.

The top is made up of random, non-geometrical pieces of cardigans and jumpers and other blankets that are machine stitched to the bottom blankets. The cardigans are different colours - light blue, red, navy, yellow and light yellow and are knitted with different patterns.

The top blanket pieces are different greys. The cardigan pieces include a pocket, button holes and one of the blanket patches has some of a blanket stitched border.

The top also has some green striped material patches. The whole blanket/quilt is bordered by a wide brown patterned material. Some of this material is also used as smaller patches on holes in the cardigans. There are also some hand stitched repairs.

Acknowledgements

National Wool Museum Collection