The Cromwell Museum was fortunate to be presented a large collection of green glass in

memory of Margaret Ellen McNulty (1906 – 2000).

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Margaret was the eighth of nine children of Annie and Thomas McNulty of Cromwell. At the

age of sixteen, Margaret was gifted a piece of Victorian glass by an elderly local identity -

Grannie Stumbles – beginning her passion for collecting green glass.

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Along with Margaret’s niece Dr Anne Cowie (nee McNulty) they sourced glass from antique

shops and auctions and the collection grew to include Victorian and Edwardian pieces as

well as Murano glass examples. The collection is presented in a flame mahogany Edwardian

cabinet.

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Margaret and Anne realised that many of the pieces had probably arrived in New Zealand in

the cargo of our English settlers, carrying the precious memories of their homes so far away.

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