Dressed doll with wax head and limbs, representing a young child, made by Lucy Peck in England, 1898-99

Dressed doll representing a young caucasian child

Gift of Miss E Hobson

The doll (and probably some of the clothes) belonged to the donor's mother, Audrey Brunel Horsley Gotch (later Mrs Hobson): Audrey's youngest sister Nancy Rosamund Horsley Gotch was born in 1899, and the doll may have been given to her at this time or shortly after. Audrey Gotch was born in 1892, a child of the physiologist Professor Francis Gotch of Oxford University, and his wife Rosamund Brunel Gotch (née Horsley) and died in 1952 or 1959. Family papers are in the Bodleian Library at Oxford: Francis and Rosamund's other children included Oliver, Veronica and Nancy; Rosamund's aunt Mary was the wife of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The exact identity of the 'C. Gotch' marked on four of the garments with the date 1899 is unknown: Caroline (Carrie) Gotch, the wife of the artist Thomas Cooper Gotch had only one child, Phyllis, who was born in 1882.

MISC.9-1983