dressing gown

Made from silk hexagonal patchwork, possibly made from waistcoat silks 1860-70. This dressing gown was worn as an evening coat by subsequent family members before it was donated to the museum in Norwich. The accession register notes that the donor was a lady of great wealth, great energy and noted eccentricity; she was also an artist in an amateur capacity. (History file)

Genealogical and other research reveals that Gabrielle de Montgeon was born in Pau, Aquitaine, France. She is recorded as arriving in England in 1901 by boat, although she must have been in the country ealrier as she is recorded as a member of the Beaufort Hunt in 1894. In 1910 she hosted a wedding reception at her home, Covert Side, Hasfield for her (half?) sister, Mary Lily de Cuadra. She married John Drummond Deane, and their son was Anthony Deane Drummond (The Deane and Drummond seem often to change place). Anthony married Mary Evangeline Boyd, sister of Diana Kraemer, nee Boyd, who donated the coat.

Gabrielle de Montgeon is recored in the 1911 census as being a boarder at Claridge's Hotel in London. In 1911 she bought Eastington Hall near Upton-on-Severn, where she lived for the rest of her life. During the first world war she joined an all-female ambulance unit serving in France. The novelist Radclyffe Hall is said to have written part of The Well of Loneliness at Eastington Hall. Mlle de Montgeon lived with a housekeeper, Frances Donnisthorpe, who had also been in the ambulance unit. Much more information and sources in the History File.

Please note: she was said to be tall and 'large': The gown might not fit her, so could have belonged to Frances Donnisthorpe?