A Tour of Gately House

The Veranda

On the right of the front entrance on the veranda is a fancifully curved wrought iron hat and umbrella stand, complete with drip-tray for wet umbrellas, which is a delightful piece of decorative Victoriana.

The Hall

In the narrow hall of an ordinary Victorian home the most essential piece of furniture was the hat and coat stand.

The one in the hall in Gately House with flat wood arms branching from a centre upright, on which are the coat and hat hooks, was a fashionable design from a s early as 1840

There is also a place for a salver for visiting cards. These cards were an essential part of Victorian etiquette and, if the Gately family were not at home, the visitors’ cards would have been placed there by the maid.

The Parlour

Situated on the left of the entrance, this room was used only on special occasions. Here the Gately family would have entertained important visitors including Sir Gordon Sprigg, whose signed photograph hangs on the wall. Other wall decorations include two brightly-coloured pictures of Japanese scenes with mother-of-pearl inlay, a photograph of the family and two engravings.

House music was a feature of the age and the Gately family, with their friends of like interest, often gathered in the parlour for musical evenings. The handsome walnut-veneered piano was made by the firm W.G. Eavestaff and has a vertical repeater and check action. On the floor next to the piano is a ‘Canterbury’, which was used to hold the sheet music.

The oval walnut-veneered central table and the side table both have four feet with a central pedestal, typically Victorian in design, as are the balloon-back chairs and spoon-back grandmother and grandfather chairs.

The small display cabinet is of a later period, the tulip inlay indicating Art Nouveau influence. It would have been purchased to house the souvenirs of the travel undertaken by the Gately daughters after their father’s death.

In their choice of ornaments, the Gately family reflected the taste of their day; the ornate silver frames for photographs, the chandelier vase in the windowsill, the Staffordshire dog, the shade with the stuffed birds, the alabaster figure and vase and the ormolu clock on the mantelpiece, are hallmarks of the late Victorian period. The lacquer workbox and soapstone carvings are part of the Chinoiserie collection.

The Family Living Room

This was the hub of family life and here the family sat together sewing, writing, reading or playing games. Here Mrs. Gately would have entertained close friends to morning tea and this is where she and her daughters would have done their sewing using the treadle Singer sewing machine.

The magnificent rosewood cylinder desk, with its secret drawer, is where John Gately would have done most of his letter writing. In this room is part of John Gately‘s extensive library with many leather-bound volumes, including the old family bible.

A new fashion which became extremely popular in the first half of the Victorian period was to have upholstery fixed by deep buttons and this can be seen in the leather chairs and sofa in the family room.

The original covers were very torn and damaged and have been replaced with finely treated leather. The buttoning was done by the late Mr Scholl, who was skilled in this old craft. The bureau-bookcase is probably Georgian and is one of the oldest pieces of furniture in the house. The impressive illuminated address, presented to John Gately on his retirement, takes pride of place on the wall.

The Main Bedroom

It was Victorians who gave up sleepiong in a four-poster bed enclosed by curtains. Perhaps they had changed their minds about the harmful night air, or perhaps the houses were more cosy than they had been, but for whatever reason, this practice was discontinued and an ‘Arabian’ bedstead made of wood or iron and brass came into fashion.

Known as a half-tester, this was the type of bed used by John and Mary Ann Gately. It is of iron with brass decorative rails and finials and has a tester top extending over the head of the bed and curtains hanging at the back and sides. There is a deep feather mattress with pillow shams and sheet hand sewn of drawn thread work.

The bed is the only piece of furniture that is not original but was obtained by the Museum when the house was handed over. It was known to be similar to the one used by Mr and Mrs Gately.

The other pieces of furniture are all of mahogany. The dressing table, chest of drawers and marble-topped washstand all have a fairly similar decorative carved design. The wardrobe and the linen press are in a more simple classical design. There is a davenport or small writing desk standing near the window. The night commode was essential in the era before plumbing and was usually disguised. Here it is used as a dressing table seat.

The original tapestry cover had long since worn out and the replacement was hand made with a design suitable for the period.
There are two very beautiful Chinese lacquer items in this room. They are both signed by the artists and are examples of exquisite workmanship. The one on the chest of drawers with the delicate butterfly handles would have been used as a jewellery box by Mrs Gately and the other was her workbox.

The Second Bedroom

The iron bedstead has a hand-crocheted bedspread, an exact replica of original. There are two wardrobes. The one is satinwood and rosewood and is slightly more elaborate than the simpler mahogany one with a mirror inset in the door. There is also a curvilinear chiffonier and a dressing table, both of mahogany. Other interesting items are the walnut davenport, the bentwood hat stand, another lacquer workbox, the half-moon marble-topped washstand, an inlaid chess table and pressed-wood chairs.

The bisque head dolls belonged to the girls. The Gately family were devout Roman Catholics as can be seen from the many religious items in this room.

The Dining Room

The central room in the house is dominated by the beautiful large mahogany dining table. It is said that the first meetings of the Municipal Councillors took place in the dining room around this table.

The stinkwood chairs are in Cape Regency style and almost certainly came from the Knysna area.

The sideboard was the most important piece of furniture in a Victorian dining room and as such should be massive and handsome. The Gately family’s rosewood-veneered break front sideboard is certainly large and elaborate.

The upper part is divided into three sections each with interrupted pediments framing curved classical motifs of urns and acanthus leaves.

The veneered mirrored walnut marble-topped chiffonier has inlaid designs and inset mirrors in the door panels. It is a good example of the French rococo influence. The large mahogany display cabinet has many of the Gately family’s prized possessions, including a green glazed Wedgwood fruit service. The corner cupboard has a missing pedestal top is probably Georgian.

The sofa is also probably a Georgian piece. The cover has been replaced with the rose brocade which was closely matched to the remains of the original cover.

It was specially imported from a firm in the United States which specialises in fabrics in the old style for historic homes. The bamboo ‘Whatnot’ is likely to have been made in the East and the porcelain tea sets are certainly Japanese.

The Gately’s were a very hospitable family and an extra place was always laid at table in case a visitor arrived.
Before the establishment of the Roman Catholic Church in East London, the priest would come from King William’s Town once a quarter and hold mass in this room.
The Pantry
Catering for her large family could not have been easy for Mary Ann Gately in the late eighteen hundreds. There was an open fire in the kitchen and a (recently discovered) Dutch oven in the garden where she would have baked bread.
Today the old kitchen is not open to the public but all the remaining utensils have been gathered together and put on display in the pantry.
For all the modern electrical appliances in our own kitchens today, we can still delight in and appreciate such gadgets as the bull-headed can opener, the china hen on its nest of eggs, the old wash-board, the grid iron with its cup for gravy, the quaint old recipe books including an old Cape recipe book compiled by Hildagonda Duckitt and the huge basin used by Mrs Gately for mixing the bread dough.

East London Museum	Wandering Albatross displaying, Prince Edward Island	East London Museum	East London Museum