Very Exciting News!!!!

Susanah Rayment was selected by The Attic Needlework of Mesa, Arizona as the sampler of the month.  What an honor to have one of my samplers selected.  As well as my other samplers featured in their newsletter.  I love school girl samplers and Susanah is definitely a special one to me.  She was the first "real" sampler I purchased, first one I reproduced and one of my first releases.  I love the history behind samplers, researching, hoping to find the real story behind the stitcher responsible for the sampler.   The fact young ladies actually stitched them around the same time I originally learned is not lost on me either. 

I was taught cross-stitch by a neighbor I was a mother's helper one summer for.  I was intrigued by the little ornaments she was making.  When the baby napped she worked on a set of Hummel children Christmas ornaments.  I would watch and ask her a ton of questions (anyone who knows me is not surprised by the ton of questions - some things never change).  Finally, she asked me if I wanted to learn.  Looking back not sure if she really was sure she wanted to teach me or if she thought maybe, if she is busy, she will quit asking all of these questions.  She gave me some fabric, hoop, floss and one of her books to borrow.  Once she explained to me how to make my first x - I was addicted.  I can remember making my mom take me to every craft store around to find charts, fabric and floss (may be why she was so glad I finally had my license) and to this day I still search them out whenever I travel somewhere.

I have many of my early projects and periodically I will come across them in my stitching collection.  I will look at them, shake my head, and wonder what in the world I was thinking.  I can assure you 150 years from now anyone who stumbled across the efforts of my infant hands would wonder the same thing.

The quality of my ten year old hands may be extremely different from the young ladies a couple of centuries ago, but there is one common theme between us both that transcends time - our love of bringing fabric and thread together to pass our time away.

Susanah Rayment - Learning 1818

Susanah Rayment - 1818 Learning

(original sampler)

Bulmer School

When I originally shared Susanah's sampler I shared I had a difficult time conducting the genealogical research.  Fortunately a member of our guild enjoys conducting the research and has assisted many of the designers in our guild with their research.  Cindy Steinhoff was able to provide much more insight into who Susanah may be.  Based on the year and school Susanah documented on her sampler she was able to find there were two towns names Bulmer in England - one  in North Yorkshire and the other in Essex.  The focus was turned to Essex based on the number of individuals listed with the same last name or spelling variations of her last name.  Both her first and last name have several spellings and during the early 1800's census takers in many cases wrote down how they thought the name was spelled.  There were two ladies that may have potentially stitched the sampler.  Not all the details match exactly as result we can not say definitively that one or the other stitched the sampler, but one more is more likely to be the candidate.  I have included below a portion of the write-up Cindy provided and is part of the information included with the chart for Susanah's sampler.

"The 1841 and 1861 censuses both list a Susanna Raymond born about 1801/1802 in Belchamp Walter, Essex. In 1841, she lived in the civil parish of Belchamp Walter, Sudbury registration district, and sub-registration district of Bulmer. (All of these are administrative levels used in British counties.) Her birth year would be 1801, based on the age given for her, and the only other resident of the household was Robert Raymond, age 75. Since relationship is not listed in the 1841, we do not know if he is Susanna’s father, grandfather, uncle, or another relative. However, a family tree for Robert in Ancestry shows that he had a daughter named Susanna, though with an earlier birthdate (1796) than would be the case given Susanna’s age reported the 1841 census. However, we do know that the census takers in 1841 were instructed to round to the nearest 5-year increment for age; thus, ages are not always correct in this census. Robert’s occupation in the 1841 census is identified as “Farmer” and Susanna does not have an occupation listed.

The 1851 census lists this Susanna with the earlier birthdate and the last name of “Raymond.” She is the head of the household and a Richard Raymond listed as a farm servant, age 70. Other residents are a general servant named Harriete Nunn, age 19, and a visitor, Esther Hills, age 6. Susanna’s occupation is “Farmer, 66 acres employing [2 words are not clear].”

In the 1861 census, I believe that this same woman is listed as “Susana Raiment,” with a birthdate of 1802, in the same residence in 1841. The only other occupant is Richard Raiment, age 80, identified as her uncle. Susana is listed as the head of household and her occupation is “Farmer, 20 acres.” Richard is listed as a “Stockman.”

The other possibility for the stitcher is in the 1841 census. Her name is listed as “Susannah Raiment.” Her birth location is noted as Essex, England. In 1841, she lived in the civil parish of Alphamstone, Sudbury registration district and Bures sub- registration district. Her birthdate is listed as 1806, which is determined by her age – 35 years - recorded in the census. However, the actual census form contains a line drawn through the first digit of her age, making it nearly impossible to read. The other occupant of the household is Thomas Raiment and his age is clearly listed as 55 years. He, too, is a farmer. From what I can see of the first digit of Susannah’s age, it could easily be a 5, making her the same age as Thomas.

Neither of these Susanahs appears in later census records. I believe that the Susanah who appears in the 1841, 1851, and 1861 censuses is more likely the stitcher of the sampler, but can’t prove it definitively. "

Cindy once again thanks so much for your assistance. 

Susanah Rayment - Learning 1818

I purchased Susanah Rayment about two years ago to add to my collection. What I found so charming about the sampler is how she was forced to squeeze the "G" in Learning in as well as the "er" in Sampler. It reminded me of when I first learned to write and always running out

of room on the line because I hadn't planned ahead.

Plus what geese don't need a pair of boots?

And what woman doesn't need to be reminded that vanity may not be a good thing.

Unfortunately, due to the number of Susanah Rayment's that come up when I have tried to search for her I can't say for certainty which one may be her. My quest continues though.

The reproduction is stitched with Gloriana Silk Threads

on Lakeside Linen - 32 count Buttercream

Framing by Total Framing in Fairfax, Virginia