An afternoon tea at the Launceston General Hospital on Wednesday celebrated the send-off of bonnets crafted by midwives and staff at the LGH Queen Victoria Maternity Unit.
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The bonnets are for the Roses from the Heart project, which commemorates the more than 25,000 convict women transported to Australia between 1788 and 1853 from Britain and Ireland. The maternity unit’s participation in the project was initiated by registered midwife Alison Campbell.
She said she was moved by hearing Roses from the Heart creator, artist Dr Christina Henri, discuss the deaths of convict women’s babies at the Cascades Female Factory in Hobart. Participation in the project among unit staff began in September.
About 31 bonnets were made by QVMU and will be taken to Ireland on the weekend by Dr Henri for a special ceremony. Each participant from the QVMU received a convict to dedicate their bonnet to. Mrs Campbell said staff in the unit had ancestral connections to convicts, which helped them relate to the project’s purpose.
