Xmas > Christmas News
 

Navy Museum Sent Century-Old Christmas Pudding

Wed, 02 Nov 2011
A 111-year old Christmas pudding has been donated to The National Museum of the Royal Navy at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard after being discovered in the back of a food cupboard in Dorset.

The "Peek, Frean and Co's Teetotal Plum Pudding" is stored in a decorative tin which reads "For the Naval Brigade, In the Front, With Miss Weston’s Best Christmas and New Year, 1900, Wishes."

It is believed to be one of about 1,000 commissioned by Agnes "Aggie" Weston who was famous for her kindness to sailors during the Boer War in southern Africa.

In 1899, Miss Weston set up an appeal to send each of up to 1,000 personal in the Naval Brigade a Christmas pudding. The order was carried out Messrs Peek, Frean and Co.

Over a century later, one of the tinned festive puddings is now being conserved at the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.

Museum Collections Manager, Victoria Ingles explained: "We received a call from a lady wanting to know if we would be interested in a tinned Christmas pudding . It had been in her kitchen cupboard since her husband’s death but she knew little else about it other than it had been in his family for many years so this sparked our interest to try and find out more."

She added: "It is quite remarkable that the pudding has survived for over 100 years. It is the only example we know of issued to the Naval Brigade still in existence and quite possibly the oldest surviving Christmas pudding, too."

The desert will temporarily be on display in the museum at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard’s Victorian Festival of Christmas along with some WWI and WWII navy rations including an orange and some chocolate .
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Free Xmas Cards
Xmas Gifts
 
 
Join in the Christmas fun and win some prizes for Christmas!
Win 1 of 10 ITV DVD Box-sets with a total value of £1,000
Win The Karate Kid on Blu-Ray
 
 
 
 
Christmas Games
Free Xmas Competitions