What a lovely happy couple💕When I went to the Postcard Fair at Clyst St Mary I was lucky to acquire more old wedding photos, this particular wedding I bought seventeen of. They are mostly proofs but four are the finished photos mounted on a card frame.

Of course, I really wanted some names on one of them but didn’t have the time at the fair to look through them all. But when I got home and was sorting through and checking on the backs, I found that two had a little writing. The first one below says ‘Mum and Jeanne’ so we know the bride is called Jeanne.

Then this one on the back says ‘Keith. Brenda. Len. Jeanne. Anne Metherill. Mary Parry/Pring?

Another clue is the photographer who was based in Plymouth, Devon. My thoughts on the date of the wedding were that it took place in the 1950s.

So searching for a possible bride whose first name Jeanne was all I entered and a bridegroom Len allowing variations, brought up two possibilities in Plymouth, one in 1965 and one in 1955. So I went with the earlier one first. Jeanne F Pring married Frederick L Axworthy in the second quarter of 1955 in Plymouth.

Checking various records for the couple I found that Frederick’s middle name was Leonard, so shortened to Len is possible. Next, I checked the other couple who married in 1965, they were Jeanne A Nancollas who married Harold L Whitfield. So I did the same with these two and found that Harold’s middle name was Leslie, so no match, they married in the 1960s, the least likely of the two couples.

Carrying on with my first couple everything felt correct and then once I had added siblings to the couple I was even more sure as Jeanne had two brothers, one called Keith, the name of the best man. Jeanne’s eldest brother was called Derek, I believe he is the person in this first photo and it was him who gave her away.

The Bride.

Jeanne Florence Pring was born on 16 April 1929 in St. Thomas, Devon, her father was Frank, and her mother was Florence Annie Newman, they had married on 22 August 1926 in St Thomas, Devon. They had three children during their marriage. While researching the close family I found that Jeanne’s father Frank had died on 4 June 1955, although I didn’t know the exact date it would have to have been close to Jeanne’s wedding date, before or after.

Frank had died of Cancer, so we have to assume that the wedding went ahead with his blessing. I looked through different websites to try and find the wedding date. Still, I had no luck, so I looked on Ancestry family tree hints that had the couple on and came across one that looked very accurate for all the family. He had the wedding dated 11 April 1955, he also had a small photo of Jeanne’s brother Derek and his wife Mary who married in 1954 and I was thrilled to see they matched with my wedding photos and it was Derek who gave Jeanne away and the bridesmaid Mary was his wife Mary! I had wondered if the name said Mary Pring and of course she was. I will send the owner of the tree a message when I’ve finished this blog.

This is from Ancestry of Frank’s Navy record: Last Service Date 17 Nov 1927. The Last Ship sailed on ‘Impregnable’. Service number M28252.

The Groom.

Frederick Leonard Axworthy known as Len, was born in April 1921 in Plymouth, Devon, his father was also Frederick Leonard Axworthy born on 18 October 1887 in Stonehouse, Devon, the son of John Rueben and Charlotte Ann. His mother was Marion Agnes Rowe, she was born on 4 January 1890 in Plymouth, Devon, the daughter of Rhoda and James. She married Frederick Leonard Axworthy in April 1911. They had four children, firstly Marion Agnes 20 Dec 1913-4 Nov 1922, who died aged just 8 with the cause of death being Gangrenous pharyngitis.

The secondborn was Frederick Leonard 17 Mar 1921-15 Jun 1991, he’s our groom. The third child was Vera May, born April 1924-19 Aug 1946, she was tragically killed when she was just 22.

The youngest of the four was Edward James born July 1928 but he sadly died aged just three on 25 January 1932 of 1) Convulsions 2) Encephalitis for a year.

How awful that as a Mum Marion had lost three of her four children before she herself died aged just 61 on 6 April 1951, so sad that she wasn’t there to see Frederick being married to Jeanne and be able to enjoy her three grandchildren. The children’s father Frederick Leonard Axworthy Snr who died in 1961, is I believe in two of the photos, one in the background when the happy couple are cutting the cake. The other standing next to Jeanne’s Mum in the group photo, I imagine Jeanne’s Dad was probably too poorly to attend.

This is the bungalow that Len and Jeanne lived in and although Len died on 15 June 1991 in Plymouth, Devon, he was 70. Jeanne died on 28 January 2017 in Hertfordshire at the age of 87. She continued to live in the bungalow until not long before she died when it was put up for sale. I imagine that she may have gone to live with one of her children and that’s why she died in Hertfordshire.

I’m really puzzled as to why this beautiful wedding collection was able to be for sale at a fair, very sad as I know there are many descendants of the family.

I’ve only made a small tree online and there are lots more I would love to have researched but I’ve tried to keep it brief, hard for me I know! Here’s the direct link to the tree on Ancestry: Jeanne F Pring Family Lynns Waffles

Till next time then……..