Hammock Gallery

May Goelet (Duchess of Roxburghe) as a little girl

Miss Mary ('May') Goelet, American heiress, who married Henry Innes-Kerr, 8th Duke of Roxburghe in 1903, becoming Duchess of Roxburghe and bringing with her a dowry of some $20 million. Pictured here at the age of four. Numerous impoverished peers married wealthy American heiresses during this period, who in return for the substantial dowries earned a title and the prestige of being chatelaine of some of the finest stately homes in England. Date: 1903

© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans

Nomadic Puri family relaxing in a hut, Brazil

Nomadic Puri family relaxing in a hut made of leaves and branches, man lying in hammock, woman roasting meat on a fire. Amazon, Brazil. Handcoloured copperplate engraving by Migliavacca from Giulio Ferrrario's Costumes Antique and Modern of All Peoples (Il Costume Antico e Moderno di Tutti i Popoli), Florence, 1842. Date:

© Florilegius/Mary Evans

Visit to Madeira - Entrance to Bella Vista Hotel

Black and white lantern slide of a woman being carried down some outside steps in a canopied hammock attached to a pole being carried by two men. a third man walks down the steps beside them - Visit to Madeira. Part of Box 125 - Madeira. Boswell Collection. Once ashore, the favourite way of getting about was by hammock. Two local stalwarts would carry an elaborate canopied hammock slung on a pole between their shoulders. Hammocks were used for long country jaunts and picnics, the bearers having to carry their charges for miles on end. Date: circa 1890s

© The Boswell Collection, Bexley Heritage Trust / Mary Evans