About The Elsie Perrin Williams Family and Estate
The Elsie Perrin Williams estate was first purchased
by Colonel William Glass, Sheriff of the County of Middlesex, in 1877. At that
time the Victorian home was called “Windermere” which Colonel Glass used
primarily as a summer house. Upon his death in 1893, the executors of Colonel
Glass’ will sold the property to Daniel S. Perrin in 1894. Perrin was a
successful biscuit and candy manufacturer in London, Ontario.
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| Photograph of Elsie Perrin Williams. Ivey Family London Room, London Public Library, London, ON. |
In 1903 Windermere was given by Perrin to his daughter, Elsie, as a
wedding gift for her upcoming marriage to Dr. Hadley Williams. Williams worked
as a surgeon for the University of Western Ontario and Victoria Hospital. While
Williams was abroad in England during the First World War, Elsie chose to have
the old Victorian home demolished and to build a new estate in its place.
In 1932 Hadley passed away and two years later, in
1934, Elsie also died.
After Elsie’s death in 1934 the property was
bequeathed to the city and used as a park and museum. It was not until 1981, when
the housekeeper died, that the city was able to use the land. Money from
Elsie’s estate helped to build the 1939 Elsie Perrin Williams Public Library
and Art Museum located at 305 Queens Avenue.
Project Goals
My goal for this project is to create an online exhibit that complements the physical exhibit. Due to the small size of the exhibit display case there is not much room for text. Due to this the physical exhibit is constrained to having minimal explanations of the items presented. My plan is to have the online exhibit handle each item of the collection more closely. The online exhibit will allow the audience to learn more about the collection as a whole or about specific items than may have caught their eye.
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| Two silver and glass candlesticks. The one on the left has been cleaned and polished while the candlestick on the right has not. |
Project Progress
This past Friday I managed to photograph the exhibit as a whole and as individual items. Due to the size of the collection I have chosen to just include the pieces that I have chosen for the display case. The photographs have turned out well and are a key step in the creation of this online exhibit.
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| My work space in the Eldon House attic. Due to the poor lighting within the house I moved the items up to the attic where they could be better photographed. |
Hey Lauren!
ReplyDeleteI think your project is awesome. You have all of the tools available and you seem to be on track. I like that its something you have been working on during your RA job. Also, even though it is going to be online through your website, I think having the physical display also available is great. Your website has good potential to get people to go to the actual thing, which is something museums and cultural institutions lack. Time and time again this fact has been proven: online exhibits help garner interest and visits.
As I mentioned in class, I think your choice of material is also fantastic. The new Donwton Abbey crowd that has "discovered" the mores and lifestyles of turn of the century Victorian England will salivate at the possibility of seeing some of these artifacts in person.
The choice to leave some dirty and clean some artifacts up is also interesting. We often only see the "final" clean product ready for display, so I think its a great design choice from a visitor and public historian standpoint.
Good luck,
Dom