Rose has had a mention on this blog before as the niece of dewpond digger, Jacob Smith.
This photo, a studio portrait shows a very glamorous and elegant Rose.
Rose Polden - a photo at Market Lavington Museum
So who was this lady? Rose was born in about 1892, probably in the first quarter of that year for the birth of a Harriet Rose Polden was registered then. This was in the village of Chitterne, which is a few miles from Market Lavington, across Salisbury Plain.
In 1901, according to the census, Rose was living with her aunt, Mrs Mary Ann Smith on White Street, Market Lavington.
In the early years of the twentieth century we think Rose Polden ran a dress making business from a cottage on the corner of Parsonage Lane and Church Street.
In 1911 Harriett Rose Polden lived on White Street. She was a dressmaker.
Another photo we have of Rose shows her with three children. We do not know who the children are.
Rose Polden with unknown children
We’d appreciate help with:=
- identifying Rose Polden’s early life.
- discovering just how Rose was related to the Smiths.
- whether she really was running a dressmaking business when a teenager.
- knowing the identities of the children in the photo.
If you can help, do contact the curator.
Tags: dressmaking, Market Lavington, Museum, person, photograph
Market Lavington Museum 
March 8, 2012 at 6:32 am |
[…] right of Parsonage Lane once housed such folk as Laurie Plank, the one legged dairy man and also Rose Polden’s dressmaking […]