This inlaid timber sewing table at the Young Historical Museum once belonged to Eliza Marina née Harcombe.
The Museum was told that it came from Italy after her marriage to her second husband Carlo Marina at Young in 1861.
Eliza was born in Ash Priors, Somerset, England in 1822 to Joel Harcombe and his wife Anne née Evans.
At 18, she married James Tout before they both travelled to New South Wales.
They took up land at Moppity and had six children.
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James died after an accident at Calabash Station in June 1859.
Eliza then married Carlo Marina.
Marina had travelled from Italy to the Victorian goldfields in 1856 and was on the Burrangong goldfields by 1861.
After their marriage they lived at Moppity.
With both her first and second husbands, Eliza worked to transform Moppity from bushland to a rich pastoral property.
While she didn’t take an active part in local movements, she was known for her charity.
‘Her interests in hobbies claimed her attention and energies, and her efforts and knowledge in this connection find evidence in the fine Moppity gardens.’
Eliza was also known for her hospitality, kindness and warmth. She died, aged 80 at home on 13 October 1902.
Carlo and Eliza had two children: Carlo Caesar William who was born in 1862 and Eliza Judita who was born in 1864.
Carlo Caesar married Helen Taylor, the second daughter of Edward Taylor of ‘Rose Hill’ Young in 1884.
The sewing table was passed on to their daughter Vera May Marina who was born on 18 July 1885.
Vera married Frederick Ashton Selden at St John’s Church of England on 15 September 1909.
At the time he was the manager of the Young branch of City Bank.
They had three children: Herbert Ashton born in 1910, Marjorie Helen born in 1911 and Frederick John born in 1917.
Vera took an active part in community activities, such as organising luncheons and afternoon teas on behalf of the Church of England at the Young Show in 1934 and 1936. She was Honorary Secretary of the Ladies Auxiliary of the Young Sub-branch of the Returned Sailors and Soldiers Imperial League of Australia (RSSILA).
By the outbreak of World War II she was President of the Young branch of the Red Cross, raising funds for Australian soldiers.
She was also Honorary Secretary of the Young Baby Health Centre and Honorary Secretary of the Country Women’s Association.
Her mother, Helen, had been a President of the CWA in Young for many years before her death in 1940.
Vera’s husband Frederick, died at Young in 1945 and she died at Coogee in 1973.
Karen Schamberger - Young Historical Museum
