The Steadson Doll Collection

In the early 1990s Mudgee woman Eileen Steadson, a dressmaker by trade, donated an extensive collection of costumed dolls which she had assembled over many years to the Mudgee Historical Society. The dolls are mostly modern vinyl dolls, in varying sizes, and the costumes and accessories (hats, jewellery, handbags, parasols) of each doll are different. Inspiration for the costumes come from the Renaissance, Elizabethan, Victorian and Edwardian eras.

Mrs Steadson made all the costumes and most of the accessories in the collection on a Bebarfalds treadle sewing machine, given to her new in 1926. This machine is on display in the church.

 In 1996, in order to house the collection of over 200 dolls, the Mudgee Historical Society Inc. acquired The Dungeree Church building in Mudgee South and re-located the church to the rear of the Mudgee Museum site.