Happiest day

[happy daze john in oz]

Yesterday all my troubles seemed so far away,

Sorry wrong title, but not sure if this should go in personal stories or tragic events, but will continue.
Yesterday, Valentines Day, I was with the Mens Woodwork Group in the local Community Health Centre and during smoko one of the men said as it is Valentines Day do you recall what happened on your wedding day, did anything out of the usual occur. Many of the replies I cannot put on a public site but did refer to 'Mother in Laws'.


I then got to thinking about the day my wife got married, she is a 'Left Footer and I am a Right so Papal dispensation had to be granted before she could wed. Things were very different back in the late 60's.

My best man Mick Falla had sailed with me for about three years on UCL so he and his wife had an important part to play later.
After the Church service, conducted by a priest well before his time he was in designer clothing under his cassock, holes in the knees of his trousers and shoes, we had to go into the back office to be married again in a civil service so we could sign the register.

Mick noticed a radio in the room and asked the priest if he could put it on, he explained that he had a bet on a horse in the Queen Elizabeth 2 and King George Stakes at Ascot that day. priest agreed and the five of us listened and cheered as the horse won.
Unbeknown to us the congregation in the church heard the cheering and when the photos were being taken my brother in law asked what the cheering had all been about, 'for me to know and you to find out I told him'.


Did any of you engage in unusual activities on your wedding day?

[j.sabourn]

John I got married in a Presbreterian Church, never been inside in my life. Was a vey short leave and the wife insisted on a church wedding so had to go and see the vicar. First thing he said whats the hurry are you having to get married. I should be so lucky. Explained I was going back to sea in a short time so had to get a special licence. When he knew I went to sea his manner changed, he said I know what you blokes are like as my son is an engineer at sea. It turned out the Rev Webb had also been a POW in Singapore, as had been a young army chaplain when Singapore fell and his name appears in the book Camp on Blood Island. He had to draw me a diagram of the Church as had never been in before, and went in once more when I was home when one of the kids was christened. What a down to earth bloke he was, not like some of the clergy of that time. The only mistake I made was letting the Mother in Law do the booking for the 6 day honeymoon in London. It turned out to be a no drinking establishment with about three Gideons bibles in the room. JS

[Richard Quartermaine]

I had already arranged a flat in Darling Point, Sydney for return from our honeymoon and moved in to get it ready. There was no garage and I had a Holden ute parked out the front. In the middle of the night I heard a suspicious noise, jumped out of bed and looked out of the window to see some mongrel trying to take off in my ute. I yelled out and ran for the door to see running down the hill. Next night I had padlocked some heavy chains to the axle and an old metal tool box that would wake the whole neighbourhood if moved. The mongrel had come back and being thwarted took his revenge and kicked in every panel of the Ute. It was less than a week before the wedding and being June (midwinter) we were to drive 1,700 miles north to Cairns, Queensland.

My prospective mother-in-law had let it be known that the man marrying her daughter needed a proper job rather than beetling around Sydney in my ute clearing vacant land to comply with fire regulations. So three weeks earlier I had landed a job with Queensland Insurance Company. Luckily the ute was insured with QI, the loss assessor was my best man and just in time to tear off towards Cairns was a completely refurbished ute which, as we took off, let us know there were a number of tin cans attached.

On the night before our wedding it just so happened that the bride's two big brothers and my best man stayed overnight, Maybe they were making sure I stayed put!!!

I'm glad I did, Richard

See what I mean -Townsville Qld July 1957

[Keith Tindell]

When we got married , we were waiting to be allocated a Fire Service house, but in the meantime we rented rooms.and friends of my wife had helped her move her clobber in. On return from our honeymoon, put the key in the lock and it had been changed, the landlady then told us that my wifes friends had stolen £5 from her rooms, we could not believe this. On checking our room, stuff was also missing, including a necklace, very valuable as a family heirloom borrowed from my wifes friend (something borrowed, something blue etc etc). Suspicion then fell on a young girl, in adjoining rooms, who had been seen wearing a skirt and shoes belonging to my wife while we were away, and had moved to Scotland in the meantime. With the help of my brother in law who was a policeman, she was tracked by the police, and the necklace was recovered, phew!!, damaged, but we were able to get it repaired and returned to its owner. So began 49 years of happy marriage, and hoping to chalk up more. KT

[Lou Barron]

A couple of days after the wedding I had a argument with my mother in law (we never got on very well at all )and she said the marriage would not last more than a few months .well she was very far wrong 64 years is a lot of months

[Louis the Amigo]

Hi shipmates, I knew my wife when she was 11yrs old we met in church , I met her again after I stopped going to sea a few years later got married in the same church, we have been wed for 37 years I think could be more? time goes so quick. We had two priest{Catholic} when we got married so no escaping for me???? double bubble. The wedding party was great in the arms park glass house club {private}after Wales beat England that made my wedding extra special, we had three children 2 boys one girl now I have a grand-daughter, I had to get married, she had two brothers who knew where I lived, ha ha So i could not escape back to sea... Her family all knew me from child-hood so would not lend me any money... and the justice system in the U.K is unfair you only get 15 yrs if you murder some one? I done 37 yrs so far and no time off for good behaviour... help me..... shipmates

[cappy]

best thing that happened to you Louis regards cappy

[Richard Quartermaine]

#6
Number 3 Yarranabe Road, Richard. It was a big flat overlooking the Harbour and the old lady who owned it had Fiji connections. A few months later we minded her friend's house in Huntley's Point until I was posted to Queensland Insurance in Fiji in mid 1959. In those days if I fell face down on a cow pat I'd come up smelling of roses.

#7
Louis, I agree with Cappy. My elder brother influenced my parents to keep away from the nuptual mass of our wedding. He also said we'd have stacks of kids. He had four whilst I had two - and it wasn't for the lack of trying!! My parents were sorry later.

Richard

[happy daze john in oz]

During our honeymoon we were on a train traveling south. A lady sitting opposite asked if we were newly married?
Yes we replied
I thought so your rings are so shiny she replied.
Had she sailed with UCL she may well have thought twice about saying that.

[eric fisher]

Lou, How 'bout this? After the church wedding, my mother leaned over the car window and whispered in my wife's ear, " I give it six months". The car sped off before she could reply. Despite everything we were married for 51 years!