In 1859, the peace of Mrs Gwynne's family was shattered when James Gwynne met and fell in love with an eighteen-year-old girl called May Purvis. On one level, the match looked suitable enough: he had met May when visiting his mother's cousins in Edinburgh, and the Purvises were respectable. They were merchants with connections to the Dutch traders of the East Indies. Yet what the Purvises did not like to mention was that May Purvis's Dutch great-grandfather, John Carels, had married a Sumatran 'ranee' (a term that covered every rank from chieftain's daughter to princess), by whom he had had children. The ranee's name has not survived, but she had a considerable effect on the looks of her descendants: for while May was an accomplished young woman with musical talent and a spirited disposition, her Indonesian genes had given her a fragile, exotic beauty that was distinctly un-Scottish.||Right from the start old Mrs Gwynne was suspicious of May Purvis and violently opposed the match. She probably guessed from May's appearance that there was something other than Scottish and Dutch blood in her veins, and she did everything she could to break off the engagement. She nearly succeeded, but James managed to persuade May that their union was only a matter of time if they both stood firm. They were eventually married in 1862. The wedding took place in the house of May's brother in Edinburgh, the Gwynnes and the Andersons being conspicuous by their absence. At the time of her marriage, May's health was not considered good: her doctors feared that she might develop tuberculosis, and one of James's wedding presents to his bride had been a respirator. Yet she proved strong enough to bear nine children, seven of whom survived: Reginald, Evelyn (Eva), Nevile, Violet, Rupert, Dorothy and Roland
Zij is getrouwd met James Eglinton Anderson Gwynne.
Zij zijn getrouwd op 2 december 1862 te Edinburgh, Scotland, zij was toen 22 jaar oud.
Kind(eren):
Mary Earl ( MAY ) Purvis | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1862 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
James Eglinton Anderson Gwynne |
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