Linden Blake, née Ellis, wrote about this wedding dress: "History of the wedding dress - the dress went from Sarah Perrott into the care of her younger daughter, T'Anne. During my childhood it was kept in a suitcase under Aunt Anne's bed. On her death in 1949 it must have gone to K who later passed it on to the National Trust. When I saw it at Killerton the Curator showed me the letter from K [

her cousin

] that had accompanied it."

Right: Also this photograph, from the archives of Sarah Perrott's descendant

,

might

possibly show Sarah Perrott (in about 1880).
 
The  dress and culture historian

writes about this picture to John Humphreys:

Sarah Perrott married  

(II)  in 1859;  they had 3 children: Hannah Mary, Anne, and

(III), Robin and Katya Müller's great-grandfather.

"This appears to be a carte de visite photograph measuring around 10 x 6.5cms. The photographer, Adam Sauvy, does not appear in the main published guide to early Irish photographic studios: Through the Brass-Lidded Eye by Chandler & Walsh (1989).
 
However you have found him in directories of 1881 and 1891 and, investigating online, I came across a reference to his studio in the

.

I feel the latter reference is significant as the appearance of this lady suggests a date range of

c.1876-82

. Key fashion features are the details of her bodice and her hairstyle."

Above: Sarah Perrott's daughter Hannah Mary Humphreys (1861-1954), the great-grandmother
of Linden Blake, née Ellis (about 1882)

The  dress and culture historian

writes about this picture to John Humphreys:

Sarah Perrott's

wedding dress

still exists, at "Killerton House" dress collection, after apparently having been passed on from mother to daughter for several generations (from Sarah Perrott to her daughter  Hannah Mary Humphreys, then to

and then to Joan Mary Watney,

'

mother). John Humphreys writes: "My cousin Linden Ellis sent me a photo of her mother Joan Mary Ellis (née Watney, 1907-1970) modelling a wedding dress in Ireland, in summer 1932. The dress was originally the wedding dress of my great-grandmother Sarah Perrott, who married Robert Humphreys in 1859 and is now at Killerton House dress collection."

Below: Sarah Perrott at the wedding of her cousin Eva Connolly on 2 June 1892 (look at the complete wedding picture

)

"Francis Guy was one of the best-known photographers in 19th century Cork, according to Through the Brass-Lidded Eye, although his full operational dates are not given. The black card mount used here confirms a date broadly between the early 1880s and early 1900s, when dark-coloured card was fashionable. Although we only have a head and shoulders view of this ancestor, her dark bodice with black lace circular collar and white pie-crust frilled blouse beneath suggests a time frame of

c.1880-85."

Below: Sarah Perrott's daughter Hannah Mary Allport née Humphreys (1861-1954) with her great-granddaughter Linden Ellis (born 1931)

Above: Sarah Perrott's wedding dress, modelled by her great-granddaughter Joan Mary Watney, Linden Ellis' mother,  in 1932