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Overview
This brown leather shoe has elastic sides, which means it would have been easily slipped on and off without the need for shoe laces. The heel has broken off from the sole, which has lines of small nails that would have once held it onto the shoe. The shoe has light brown stitching on the top.
Shoes were very important in early colonial New Zealand because roads were unpaved and frequently muddy. Men, women, and children mostly wore boots as the mud often rose above the ankle. It is likely, therefore, that this shoe was worn inside because it does not rise above the ankle and so would have offered poor protection against the muddy streets.
The Randell Cottage
The shoe is part of a collection of objects found underneath the Randell family cottage when it was renovated in the 1990s. The Randell Cottage is situated at 14 St Mary Street in the suburb of Thorndon in Wellington. It was built by William Randell in 1867 for his family, who moved into the four room cottage that year with seven children. By 1877 there were 10 children! William added two more rooms in 1874. He died in 1880 leaving his wife, Sarah, with five children aged 15 and under. Sarah and the family were supported by three of the elder children until she moved in with her daughter Emily in the suburb of Karori.
Acquisition
In 1994, Beverley Randell, great granddaughter of William and Sarah, purchased the cottage with the help of her own family. They refurbished it, keeping much to the original floor plan and furnishings. New foundations had to be laid and, during the digging, many objects were unearthed. As there was no formal rubbish collection in the 1870s, many hard, sharp, and unwanted objects were tossed beneath the house. Others most likely found their way down through cracks in the floorboards. Beverley Randell donated the collection of finds to Te Papa in 2006. The objects provide a rare glimpse into the everyday lives of New Zealand's early European settler families.