Margaret Lewis
Published:
12:00 AM February 28, 2021
The doll s house dates from c1840 and gives an insight into how Victorian people lived
- Credit: Margaret Lewis
This Victorian doll’s house has been in the collection since the museum opened in 1946.
It was donated by Mrs Esme Nicoll who was the honorary curator and co-founder of Allhallows museum. Esme was not her real name. She was born Edith Sophie Mary Elliot and she used the initials of those names to form Esme.
She lived at Egland, Awliscombe which was built by her Great Aunt Thomasine in 1803. Esme led an interesting life. She married her first husband in Cairo in 1897 and after he was killed in action in Mesopotamia, she set up a comfort fund and sent parcels to members of his regiment who had become prisoners of war. She corresponded with Agatha Christie. She married her second husband John Nicoll in 1922.