New Governor Caroline Wells has symbolically accepted a replica of the historic Rajah Quilt at Government House on behalf of Tasmanians. The original Rajah Quilt was created in 1841 by 29 convict women aboard the ship Rajah as they travelled from England to Van Diemen’s Land. It’s the only surviving full quilt made by convicts on a convict ship anywhere in the world.
The convict women used nearly 3,000 pieces of fabric to create the quilt, which was presented to Lady Jane Franklin. At some point it was lost, only discovered 150 years later in an attic in Edinburgh in 1987. The true-to-size replica was created by quilter Anne Thompson, who had to secure a licence from the National Gallery of Australia, the institution that holds the original. The replica will be the featured exhibit at the Tasmanian Craft Fair in Deloraine later this year. It will also be exhibited around Tasmania.