This dress is connected with one of the oldest settler families in New Zealand. Catherine (known as Kate) Patterson of Manaia wore this to the wedding of her eldest daughter Amy, on
 6 February 1913, at which point Kate was around 50. Kate was the daughter of William Williams, who arrived in New Zealand as a child shortly after the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, in 1841. Kate was interested in learning and education. She was a teacher before she married and all her eight daughters were well educated, several attending university and one, Hazel, became New Zealand’s first female anaesthetist. This dress has been treasured by Kate’s family. It is presently owned by her granddaughter. Read more about wearing the colour black in the story, Wearing Black in Aotearoa.