Keepsake in the form of a needlework sampler bookmark, commemorating the birth of John Evans at Round Mountain, near Rylstone, Central West New South Wales, on 17 June 1878.

Needlework sampler bookmark, 105 x 65 mm; very well preserved. The text reads: ‘John Evans / Born / June 17th 1878 / Round Mountain / Sweet copy far more dear to me / Than all the living forms could be. / Save him who placed thee next my Heart‘; [together with] another sampler bookmark, sewn onto silk, 210 x 28 mm, worded ‘Think of me.’; in good condition (the silk a little frayed).

These sweet keepsakes were both found in a photograph album belonging to the Evans family of Bombandy, between Cudgegong and Rylstone, southeast of Mudgee in the Central West of New South Wales.

John Evans (1878-1968) was born at Round Mountain, near Rylstone, on 17 June 1878. His parents were John William and Jane Evans. The keepsake commemorating his birth was almost certainly made by his mother, judging from the wording of the text; and it is quite likely, considering the shared context of the two objects, that Jane Evans was also the maker of the ‘Think of me‘ bookmark.

John married Elsie May Rayner (1887-1961) on 19 April 1905 in Union Church (Church of England), Mullamuddy, a tiny township between Cudgegong and Mudgee. They had 8 children. John and Elsie both died in Mudgee.