Thread by @NorwichCastle

All week we've been highlighting women artists from our collection, and today we're focusing on one of our most fascinating artists: Lorina Bulwer, a 19thC resident of the Great Yarmouth workhouse 'lunatic' ward. THREAD 🧵 #WomensHistoryMonth

During Lorina’s time at the workhouse she created a series of embroidered letters, made by creating a patchwork of fabric which she stitched her text on to. We call them samplers because they are similar to the needlework samplers made to teach embroidery to young girls.

On these samplers Lorina mainly stitches words, all in capital letters with no punctuation. They read as a constant stream of thought, sometimes angry, sometimes funny. They provide us with an insight into her mind as well as the world of the workhouse.

Through our research and the details in her samplers, we know a lot about Lorina Bulwer. She was born in 1838 in Beccles, Suffolk and moved to Great Yarmouth with her mother, who ran a boarding house, where she lived until her mother died in 1893.

In 1901 Lorina appears on the census in the workhouse. We think Lorina may have been sent there because her brother was not able to take care of her after their mother died. She spent the rest of her life in the workhouse, until she died in 1912 from influenza.

During this time she created her incredible samplers. The GY workhouse was involved in the 'Brabazon Scheme' which encouraged female workhouse inmates to use handicrafts as occupational therapy. Perhaps this is why Lorina was allowed to stitch her samplers.

Lorina’s samplers are long, made up of short sections, with the longest around 310cm. They are unique and a rare example of something created by a workhouse inmate, as well as a personal piece of writing from a woman of that time.

Learn more about Lorina and try creativity and wellbeing exercises based on her work in this fantastic resource pack developed by our sister site @GressenhallFW, where sections of her work are on display (when the museum is open): bit.ly/3qnTwLn [opens as a PDF]

You can also try our children’s Lorina activities for ages 7-14 in this activity pack: bit.ly/2MSX4I6 [opens as a PDF]

View the full record on our Collections Online here: bit.ly/3bg7lr9

#WomensHistoryMonth #LorinaBulwer