3rd AUGUST
My great-grandfather’s half-sister, Ruby Kate Irene Dando, was born in America on 3rd August 1885 – exactly 140 years ago today. In 1902, Leigh in Essex witnessed her marriage to the Reverend Robert Stuart King, beloved rector of St. Clement’s Church. She was only just seventeen years old and he was forty. The wedding was a notable local event, drawing a large and joyful crowd of parishioners, friends, and family to celebrate this much-admired couple.
Details of their wedding were published in ‘The Gentlewoman’ (transcribed below), which was a British weekly newspaper, published between 1890 and 1926, aimed at a female audience. I imagine their photographs would have been stunning, whereas sadly, I only have access to a digitized copy available on the FindMyPast website.
Saturday 23 August 1902 – The Gentlewoman
The Rev. R. S. King to Miss R. Dando.
A wedding of much interest at Leigh, in Essex, on August 12th, was that of the rector, the Rev. Robert Stuart King, son of the late Canon Walker King, to Miss Ruby Elberta Kate Irene Dando, eldest daughter of Mr. W. Elbert Dando, of Baltimore, U.S.A., resident at Leigh for the past seven years. The bridegroom’s father was rector of Leigh for thirty years, and the bridegroom has himself occupied that position for ten, so that St. Clement’s Church was filled to overflowing with guests, and the road and approaches were lined with the bridegroom’s parishioners. The church was charmingly decorated, and the service was fully choral. The Rt. Rev. the Lord Bishop of Lincoln (uncle of the bridegroom) officiated, and afterwards gave an eloquent address, and assisting him were the Rev. H. S. Nicholl, rector of Llandough, the Rev. T. O. Reay, and the Rev. A. B. Bennett. The bride, who was given away by her father, was attended by four bridesmaids—Miss Pearl Dando, Miss Dolly Burgess Smith, Miss Joyce Savage, and Miss Irene Hall—and by two pages—Master Jeffrey King (nephew of the bridegroom) and Master Harold Hall. The bride’s dress was of ivory crêpe de chine over white silk passementerie and orange blossom and she wore a veil of Brussels lace which once belonged to the bridegroom’s mother. The bridesmaids’ gowns were of white pin spot muslin, with white crinoline hats with chiffon and black velvet ribbon, and the two pages wore Court suits of black velvet. Mr. T. E. Stuart supported his cousin as best man, and the bridegroom’s presents to the bridesmaids were bouquets of crimson carnations and brooches of sapphires and pearls, with watchchains to the pages. At the conclusion of the service Mendelssohn’s Wedding March was played and the bells were rung, while a number of schoolchildren strewed flowers in the path of the bride as she walked with her husband to Ivy Cottage, lent by Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Moore for the reception. The guests present included the Rev. H. Stuart King, Capt. Walker King, Mrs. Kirton, the Rev. G. G. and Mrs. Kemp, the Rev. W. Davis and Mrs. Davis, the Rev. H. T. and Mrs. Spencer, Mr. and Mrs. Coulson Kernahan, the Rev. Dr. Lang and Mrs. Lang, the Rev. F. R. and Mrs. Burnside, Mr. and Mrs. Rankin, Mr. and Mrs. E. Sheriff, Miss Colman, Mr. and Mrs. Myers, Mr. and Mrs. C. Stuart King, Miss Pask and Lieut. Pask, Dr. and Mrs. Vernon, and many others too numerous to enumerate. The honeymoon is to be spent in Switzerland and at the Italian lakes, and the Rev. R. S. and Mrs. King left en route early in the afternoon, the bride travelling in a pale blue cloth dress with white lace and silver buttons. The wedding presents, which were numerous and interesting, included a sapphire and pearl bracelet, from the bridegroom to the bride; silver-backed hair brushes, from the bride to the bridegroom; a half-hoop diamond ring, from Mr. and Mrs. W. Elbert Dando; a silver-mounted umbrella, from Miss Pearl Dando; silver pin boxes, from Mr. Malcolm Dando; a silver tureen and a cheque, from Captain Walker King; silver entrée dishes, from Mrs. Rodd; silver-mounted salad bowl and servers, from Miss King, Mrs. Kirton, and Mr. E. H. S. King; a cheque, from the Bishop of Lincoln; a set of silver spoons and forks, from Mr. and Mrs. Charles King; a ruby ring, from Miss E. Stuart King; an ebony and brass lamp and shade, from Miss Pask and Mrs. Herbert Higgins; a silver butter knife from the Highfield School pupils; and a silver tea and coffee service with a silver-mounted tray, from the parishioners of Leigh. The wedding cake was supplied by Messrs. W. and G. Buszard.
