Description | This scapulary is made of card covered with blue fabric and edged with red or brown, and would likely have been a token of affection made by a prisoner for her child, and worn near the shoulder.
Sir John Franklin became Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land (modern Tasmania) in 1836, which at the time was a penal colony. His wife, Lady Franklin, corresponded with British prison reformer Elizabeth Fry, and made efforts to improve the lot of the female prisoners in Van Diemen's Land. It is likely that she acquired this scapulary at the time. |