Mary Alcorn (1866–1928) was an interior designer and business owner in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Early life

Alcorn was born in

Hokitika Hokitika is a town in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island, south of Greymouth, and close to the mouth of the Hokitika River. It is the seat and largest town in the Westland District. The town's estimated population is as of ...

on the West Coast of New Zealand's

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

in 1866 to Samuel Wesley and Jane Alcorn (born Andrews). Samuel and Jane had emigrated to

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

from

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, married there in 1865, and then moved to the West Coast. She had seven younger siblings:

Margaret Margaret is a feminine given name, which means "pearl". It is of Latin origin, via Ancient Greek and ultimately from Iranian languages, Old Iranian. It has been an English language, English name since the 11th century, and remained popular thro ...

, Ethel, Olive, Winifred, John, William and Kathleen. Samuel was a draper in Hokitika but in 1874 the family moved to Wellington. Samuel bought property in the city on

Lambton Quay Lambton Quay (once known as The Beach) is the heart of the Wellington Central, Wellington, central business district of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. Geography Originally, as the name implies, it was the high-water line of the f ...

opposite the department store

Kirkcaldie & Stains Kirkcaldie & Stains (known informally as ''Kirkcaldie's'' or ''Kirks'') was a department store in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1863 by John Kirkcaldie and Robert Stains with a capital of £700. The first store was opened on L ...

. He opened a draper shop downstairs and the family lived upstairs. The drapery business was successful, and the Alcorn children enjoyed a prosperous household with a governess and private schools. This life changed dramatically, however, in 1877 when a fire in the shop destroyed the business and killed a younger daughter of the family, Winifred, aged four. The family moved to Ashburton and the children attended school there. Mary worked as a shop assistant after finishing her schooling. Mary had a great love of music; she played the piano at concerts such as a Wakanui fundraising concert in 1893 and also sang in the church choir at the Ashburton Wesleyan Church. She and her sisters were also accomplished seamstresses, winning prizes at school competitions for their lacework, embroidery and crewelwork.

Business

In 1906, Alcorn and her sister Margaret opened a shop in the new Kennedy Building on Lambton Quay, Wellington called "Liberty's Wellington", specialising in art furniture and furnishings, and started selling goods they imported themselves from Liberty department store in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The sisters also offered professional advice and design ideas for their customers' homes. Mary and Margaret lived in

Oriental Bay Oriental Bay is a bay and suburb of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. Known for being both a popular beach and an opulent centre of affluence in the city, it is located close to the Central Business District, central business distri ...

and Mary cycled to the shop each day, which was not a common way for women to travel at the time. Mary extended the business by travelling to England and Europe in 1913 to select goods for the shop herself. She visited potters in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

and pewter works in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, and also visited

Royal Doulton Royal Doulton is an English ceramic and home accessories manufacturer that was founded in 1815. Operating originally in Vauxhall, London, and later moving to Lambeth, in 1882 it opened a factory in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, in the centre of Engl ...

and

Wedgwood Wedgwood is an English China (material), fine china, porcelain and luxury accessories manufacturer that was founded on 1 May 1759 by the potter and entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood and was first incorporated in 1895 as Josiah Wedgwood and Sons L ...

pottery firms as well as making several visits to Liberty's. In the early 1920s the Alcorns' shop expanded into larger premises further along Lambton Quay, taking over Thomas Pringle's embroidery shop and business. At this time the Alcorns also hired a local artist and embroiderer,

Marjory Mills Marjory Hinemoa Mills (11 November 1896 – 22 May 1987) was a New Zealand embroiderer who was an artist and business owner. Early life Mills was born in Wellington, New Zealand on 11 November 1896. Her parents were Thomas, a journalist, a ...

, to design embroidery patterns for their shop. Mary died in 1928 and is buried in a family plot at the Bolton Street Cemetery. Mary's sister Margaret opened a second shop in Burlington Arcade (pictured) after Mary's death, and managed both shops until they failed in the 1930s due to the Depression.

References

External links

Image of a pewter jug
purchased at "Liberty's Wellington" {{DEFAULTSORT:Alcorn, Mary 20th-century New Zealand businesswomen 20th-century New Zealand businesspeople New Zealand embroiderers New Zealand interior designers People from Hokitika 1866 births 1928 deaths Burials at Bolton Street Cemetery