The tragic story of Dorothy Broad and her fiancee- and the nightdress she never wore. WW1.

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DescriptionThe end of World War One on 11 November 1918 meant many New Zealand soldiers could come home. Captain Thomas Wyville Leonard Rutherfurd didn’t get to come home – he died of malaria in Persia (modern Iran) just a month before the war ended.

Earlier that year Wyville, as he was known, became engaged to Miss Dorothy Broad of Greymouth. The pair had met before the war when Wyville was working as an engineer in Reefton.

In anticipation of married life, Dorothy made herself this elegant nightgown, but tragically Wyville never got to see it.

After the War, she and her unmarried sister lived with their widowed mother in Greymouth. After their mother’s death in 1951, the sisters moved to Christchurch, where Dorothy died in 1976.

Canterbury Museum.Date of Photo1914-18Map^[1]ContributorPam Engelfield-AbsolumVideo

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Location (city or town)GreymouthPersonDorothy BroadThomas Wyville Leonard Rutherfurd EventThe tragic story of Dorothy Broad and her fiancee. WW1.

Category Information

Category TagWar

From Facebook

Date Created9th November 2019CommentsBob Laing What a sad story but probably one of many

Lois Iacoppi Far too many

Gaye Jenkins Just a beautiful nightgown. What alot of work it would of taken.

Noeline McCaughan As a small child in the 1930's I was aware of the many women in the community dressed in black, none of them seemed to be married. A lot of them still lived with their parents, others alone with a cat or small dog and sometimes only a canary for company. They worked in shops or did housework for others, they were often very quiet but friendly and many had an air of sadness that could almost be felt. These were the fiancees and widows of the first world war living out the rest of their lives alone.

Heather Newby very sad

Christine Burn I remember my dear great auntie Ethel, she lost her sweet heart during world war 1. Her nephews and nieces and their kids were to her the children she never had herself and she loved us all dearl

Janaka Mary Bartlett So beautifully made. Hopefully this lady got to have some joy in her life.
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Sandra Douglas Looks like made out calico ..I hav a my mums christening gown like this ..my grandmother used to pull the threads & embroider with cottons ..made her own curtains.hours of work ..

John White In Taylorville we had Maime Watson. Miss Watson to all us kids. She played piano at silent movies and then at every school function right up to the late 60’s. I took guitar lessons from her & will never forget the day she showed me her unused wedding g…See More

Anita Lorraine Barltrop
They fought and died for New Zealand, would turn in their graves and cry including the Maori Battalion, at losing the name of the country on the flag they fought for. New Zealand

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The tragic story of Dorothy Broad and her fiancee- and the nightdress she never wore. WW1.

Editing is temporarily disabled