#52 Ancestors Week 41 Passed Down: Great Grandmother at the Coronation of George VI

 

In December 1936, just a few days before his 41st birthday, Edward VIII scandalized the nation by abdicating the throne of England in favor of Baltimore beauty, Wallis Simpson. Edward's coronation had already been planned for the following May and the ceremony was hastily redesigned for Edward's brother, George VI.  On 12 May 1937 at Westminster Abbey, George VI and his wife Elizabeth were crowned as King and Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth and as emperor and empress of India with all the pomp and circumstance that the British can so famously muster. 

The parade to Buckingham Palace was six miles long with tens of thousands of soldiers and police officers lining the route and hundreds of thousands of cheering spectators, despite a drenching rain.

The Evening Sun here in Maryland, gave the event front-page treatment.

Somewhere in that cheering crowd was my great-grandmother, Louise Gwynn Scrivener, and her sister, Effie Gwynn Bowie. And if everything I've heard about Louise was true, they had primo seats. If there were strings to be pulled, Louise pulled them. Since both sisters were fervent members of the Daughters of the American Revolution, I'm not entirely sure why they wanted to celebrate the British monarchy.  (There they are at the left in full DAR mode in front of the Hammond-Harwood house in Annapolis.) But, the two widowed sisters were distant cousins of George, and we know how they felt about genealogy, so perhaps they considered it a familial duty to attend. Also, I have to say that great-grandmother's scrapbook, now in my possession, shows a large number of clippings about various royals.  In any case, Louise, age 65, and Effie, age 68, sailed for England in the spring of 1937.

Of course, London was flooded with souvenirs of the momentous occasion: every kind of commemorative cup, plate, plaque, tea towel, paperweight and medal that could be imagined, and probably some that couldn't be imagined, such as the commemorative powder compact on the right.

Great-grandmother, however, resisted all such frivolous gee-gaws (at least none have turned up in the family.) Instead, she went straight for the good stuff.  Her souvenir of her trip to England (which I have recently inherited) was a beautiful Wedgewood pitcher in the very popular Blue Willow pattern. 

In doing some research on this china, I discovered that a true Blue Willow pattern must include the following: 

* willow trees

* Chinese pine trees (commonly confused as apple or orange trees)

* a bridge with three men on it

* a fence

* a boat

* a teahouse or pagoda

* two birds in flight. 

After careful examination, I can assert with confidence that great-grandmother's pitcher meets all the requirements.

So, I'm thrilled to have this souvenir of Louise Gwynn's Coronation trip.  But I have to say, that coronation compact would have been pretty cool too.