This particular work was inspired by Eliza Emily Donnithorne, a 19th-century resident of Camperdown Lodge on the corner of Georgina Street and King Street in Newtown. Eliza was a member of the social elite and her wedding was to be a gala event. The banquet was organised. Onlookers, coaches and guests gathered to escort Eliza to her wedding at St Stephen's Church.

But the groom never arrived. Eliza isolated herself, insisting that her house remained ready for the arrival of her beloved. The door of the house remained ajar and Eliza could be seen waiting for her fiancé to arrive. The wedding table was never cleared and she remained in her wedding dress until her death in 1886.

Eliza's grave is in St Stephen's churchyard. Eliza is said to have inspired Charles Dickens to create Mrs Havisham in his famous novel, Great Expectations.