item details
NameSalvation Army Bonnet
ProductionSalvation Army; manufacturer(s); mid 1960s-1970s; New Zealand
Classificationbonnets
Materialsstraw, ribbon
Materials SummaryStraw and ribbon
DimensionsApproximate: 250 (width), 160 (height)
Registration NumberGH017320
Credit lineGift of The Salvation Army, 2011
Overview
Worn since 1880 until very recently, the bonnet is an instantly recognisable symbol of the Salvation Army, branches of which were established in New Zealand in the early 1880s.
This bonnet belonged to Brigadier Elizabeth Jane Drummond (1905-1998), who grew up in Ashburton. She attended the Salvation Army Training College for officers in 1927 and became a Salvation Army Officer in 1928, serving in a number of small corps (churches) until 1937.
She subsequently trained in maternity care at Bethany Hospital, Wellington, and midwifery at St Helens Hospital. In 1947 she became the first matron at the Bethany Hospital in Christchurch, retiring in 1966. She valued her work with unmarried mothers.