The wool was produced between 1890 and 1891 by C and C Goulter in Hawkesbury, Marlborough, New Zealand.

Bred mostly from W. Gibson blood. Station bred.

In 1890 Alfred Hawkesworth, honorary wool-classer to the Museum, noted the following about this specimen:

Merino stud ewe hogget; progeny of Tasmanian pure-bred stock, mostly Scone blood. One of the most perfect superior combing-wools in the Museum, and it must take a place in the front ranks of commercial samples of high value. For manufacturing purposes, requiring the all-round excellent qualities, this sample would be keenly competed for; the question would be- what could it not be used for? It is of a decided combing length, fully 3 inches laid upon the rule without holding; when stretched it is over 3 ½ inches, showing a good amount of elasticity; the staple is beautifully formed, being compact, even, with almost faultless tips, which contain nothing but light loose soil; the fibres are very fine, strong, regular, and sound to the ends, where the small close serrations are distinctly to be seen; the strength, purity, regularity, go to make an exceptionally draughty wool, and would stand any reasonable tension in the spinning-frame. As regards lustre, softness, the wool handles and looks like silk; it is one of the best spinning wools to be found, and fit for goods of a natural white, or it is adapted for any delicate dyeing purposes; if there was another half-inch of natural length, the style would be equal to high-priced wools of Western Victoria. Would spin to 120s, value 15d per lb (Alfred Hawkesworth's valuation).

The excellent judgement and great care shown in the choice of such a comprehensive selection (F812-F841), and the neat packaging, are deserving of a special mention. As an educational and instructive collection, this is one of the most perfect in the whole of this wool section, and one that fully illustrates the three distinct grades of merino combing-wools, viz, fine, medium, and string. The wide assortment gives an especially good opportunity of comparison, and therefore of seeing the great necessity of keeping the different lengths and qualities separate when presenting them to the buyers. It is a difficult matter to give an opinion as to which of the three distinct types have done best, as all are in a bright, healthy, and sound condition, and all are apparently equally suitable to the locality. The district is one of the best in New Zealand for agricultural purposes, being temperate and bracing, these circumstances having a very beneficial effect upon the condition and lustre, these two being most excellent properties of these wools.

Alfred Hawkesworth, Technological Museum, Sydney, Descriptive Catalogue No 3. Raw wools and specimens to illustrate the woollen manufacture. Sydney Government Printer. 1890.

Originally donated by Messrs Cyrus and Charles Goulter, Hawkesbury, Marlborough, New Zealand, 1891.

This wool specimen is part of the Bill Montgomery Wool Collection which consists of approximately 7000 samples. In the older part of the collection there are 5000 samples from Australian sheep fleeces grown between 1856 and 1906. The samples were collected by the Museum at a time when scientific research was prominent in the Museum's activities. In 1979, when the Museum's focus changed, most of its wool collection was transferred to the teaching collection of Mr Bill Montgomery, a wool classing teacher at Newcastle Technical College. When Bill retired from the College, the collection was again in danger of being thrown away. He took the entire collection home and stored it in his garage for 15 years. His Collection also contains approximately 1500 wool samples grown between 1950 and 2000 and collected by Bill himself. It includes 147 examples of faults and stains occurring in Australian flocks, 20 pigmented wools and 33 rare and extinct breeds from around the world. The Museum purchased the entire collection in 2003. Bill Montgomery died on 7th July, 2007.

Wool specimen, hogget ewe, bred by Cyrus and Charles Goulter, Hawkesbury, Marlborough, New Zealand, 1890-1891

Wool specimen from a 14 month old, pure Tasmanian breed hogget ewe that was station bred. There is a black ribbon tied around the middle of the specimen and a small green tag tied to the ribbon.

This sample of wool was tested in June 2007 by the Interactive Wool Group. They used the OFDA2000 instrument for fleece testing. The following are the results for this specimen:

Microns: 19 microns (3.9 Standard Deviation)
(average fibre diameter)

Staple length: 65 mm

Mean fibre curvature: 100.2 Dg/mm
(A measurement in degrees
per mm related to
crimp frequency)

Comfort Factor: 99.4 %
(The % of fibres equal
to or less than 30 microns)

Made: C and C Goulter; Marlborough, New Zealand; 1890 - 1891

Text on the green tag reads 'F827 / Ewe Hogget / Tasmanian Blood' and on reverse 'No 16 / C & C Goulter / New Zealand'.

F827

1890 - 1891

105 mm

30 mm