Promise

A site specific work inspired by Eliza Emily Donnithorne, a 19 century resident of Camperdown Lodge, corner Georgina Street and King Street, Newtown. Eliza was a social elite and her wedding was to be a gala occasion. The banquet was laid out. Onlookers, coaches and guests assembled to escort Eliza to her wedding at St Stephen’s Church.
But the groom never arrived. Eliza retreated to isolation, insisting that her house stay in ready for the arrival of her beloved. The door to the house remained ajar and Eliza could be seen awaiting her fiancés arrival. The wedding table was never cleared and she remained in her wedding dress until she died in 1886. Eliza’s grave is in the graveyard at St Stephen’s Church.
It is said that Eliza inspired Charles Dickens to create Miss Havesham in his famous novel, Great Expectations.