Miss Porter's House - National Trust of Australia NSW

Miss Porter's House - National Trust of Australia NSW Freestanding Edwardian Terrace House
Entry fee:
Adult $12; Concession $10; Family $34

When newlyweds Herbert Porter and his bride Florence Jolly moved into their new home in 1910, their thoughts were focused on the here and now; the need to furnish and care for the house, and the need to cultivate their general store and carrier business in nearby Blaine (now Hunter) Street. They pondered too the prospect of starting a family, Ella was born in 1911 and Hazel in 1914. Sadly, Herbert

(and his mother) fell victim to the influenza epidemic in 1919, and Florence was left to raise the two girls. Herbert and Florence could not have imagined that Ella and Hazel, who remained single and lived in the house all of their lives, would one day bequeath the house to the National Trust, an ambition realised after the death of Hazel in 1997.

Open Day - Sunday 14th June 1pm – 4pmFASHION AT MISS PORTER’S HOUSE Book your visit in advance: https://bit.ly/3dpti7d o...
27/05/2026

Open Day - Sunday 14th June 1pm – 4pm

FASHION AT MISS PORTER’S HOUSE

Book your visit in advance: https://bit.ly/3dpti7d or pay at the desk.

See a century of stylish and changing fashions captured in photos, homemade clothing and charming accessories at Miss Porter’s House museum.

Contemporaries described the Porter women as ‘well dressed’. Florence, Ella and Hazel Porter were prolific producers of fabulous clothing and household textiles: everything from underwear to business suits to party gowns, everyday dresses and accessories.

Edwardian studio photographs reveal Florence Porter tightly corseted and clad from wrist to ankle in high-necked clothing and extravagantly large hats. Florence was a skilled craftswoman, probably sewed her own clothing and was well known for her handmade lace and crochet trimmings. One of her early purchases was a sewing machine, ordered from Anthony Hordern’s Palace Emporium while on the wedding trip in Sydney and well used during the rest of the twentieth century.

By the 1930s Florence’s daughters, Ella and Hazel, were at business college and in employment. Family snaps capture Hazel and her mother in calf length tailored coats, close fitting hats and sensible strapped, low-heeled shoes.

Both work and everyday wear was structured and accessorised with hats and gloves essential for the properly dressed woman. Hazel was described by a 1950s work colleague as wearing ‘a navy skirt and jacket with a white blouse and highly polished lace up shoes. Her hair was drawn back into a bun’. Hazel, like her mother and sister, took pride in her appearance and there are many coat or jacket-and-skirt ensembles in the collection.

Miss Porter’s House has an especially rich crimplene clothing collection. Crimplene was the wash-and-wear miracle fabric of the 1960s which seems to have been enthusiastically embraced by the Porter women. They made numerous work and leisure dresses, jackets, a suit and even a hat from the new material.

Miss Porter’s House Museum, 434 King Street, Newcastle West
Sunday 14th June 1pm – 4pm
Adults $12, Concessions $10, Family $34, NT members and children under 5 free
Enquiries 4927 0202
www.nationaltrust.org.au
Facebook missportershouse

We had a lovely private visit by Georgia and her friends this morning. This was their mystery tour.
24/05/2026

We had a lovely private visit by Georgia and her friends this morning. This was their mystery tour.

Always work for the volunteers to do. Open Day May 10th!
10/05/2026

Always work for the volunteers to do. Open Day May 10th!

Wendy getting ready to sell Mothers Day gifts at Open Day, Sunday 10th May.
10/05/2026

Wendy getting ready to sell Mothers Day gifts at Open Day, Sunday 10th May.

Restored glass panel found under the tankstand.
10/05/2026

Restored glass panel found under the tankstand.

The volunteers from Miss Porter’s House out to Lunch today at South’s at Merewether.
07/05/2026

The volunteers from Miss Porter’s House out to Lunch today at South’s at Merewether.

Open Day 10 May 2026Book your visit in advance: https://bit.ly/3dpti7dor pay at the desk.THE MAGIC OF MOTHERS DAY AT MIS...
26/04/2026

Open Day 10 May 2026

Book your visit in advance: https://bit.ly/3dpti7d
or pay at the desk.

THE MAGIC OF MOTHERS DAY AT MISS PORTER’S HOUSE

More than tea pots and doilies. Treat mum to a slice of history and celebrate three generations of remarkable women. Enjoy special displays of memorabilia which reveal early European settlers, businesspeople, employees and active community members, as well as wives and mothers.

To be seen and learnt by a visit:

Using QR coded signage visitors can hear of migration stories, how businesses were built and flourished and how education helped the Porter sisters support their widowed mother and survive a disastrous earthquake.

A studio portrait of Florence Porter’s mother, Ann Jolley, shows a formidable woman who, with husband Henry and two infant children, made the long journey from the UK to Singleton. Sadly, she was widowed when pregnant with her eleventh child and left to raise a large family.

Ann spent the last years of her life in her daughter Florence’s Newcastle home where several of her personal possessions are in the collection.

Ella and Hazel Porter’s paternal grandmother Eliza is no less remarkable. A daughter of the Lintott family, dairy farming settlers from Ash Island in the Hunter River, Eliza married James Porter. Together they built a grocery and carrier business eventually owning the shop in Hunter Street behind Miss Porter’s House. Eliza supported James in his church and community endeavours, had eight children and maintained the business after his death. Click on the Shop QR code and listen to the story of the business she helped build.

Ella and Hazel Porter never married; they were the family breadwinners supporting their widowed mother at a time when few pensions existed. They studied typing and shorthand and Hazel worked in administration, retiring as an Office Manager in 1983 when she was 69 years old. Listen to the Earthquake story and discover how two women in their seventies survived the Newcastle Earthquake.

Celebrate the Porter women on Mother’s Day. Enjoy a tour of the house, listen to amazing stories and browse the homemade craft and plant stall.

Miss Porter’s House Museum, 434 King Street, Newcastle West
Sunday 10 May 2026, 1pm – 4pm
Adults $12, Concessions $10, Family $34, NT members and children under 5 free
Enquiries 4927 0202
www.nationaltrust.org.au
Facebook: missportershouse

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Address

434 King Street
Newcastle, NSW
2302

Telephone

(02) 4927 0202

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