An Elegant Wedding
Here is the article which appeared in the 1907-10-22 copy of the Egyptian GazetteOn the 5th of October 1907 Captain Charles Massie Blomfield finally married Miss Hirell Clarence in a “fashionable wedding” that struck a chord with those in attendance. Held at St Paul’s on Wimbledon Common, the wedding itself was not the smallest, nor the biggest; it was the perfect size for the new couple. Many family members from both the bride and the groom were in attendance along with the groom’s army colleagues and battalion. The service was conducted by the godfather of the groom and was completely choral.
Miss Hirell Clarence, the bride-to-be, wore a gorgeous white satin gown paired with a long veil made of tulle and a headpiece with orange blossoms perfectly arranged on it. On the other hand, the bridesmaids wore colorful gowns. Each gown was cream colored, decorated with gold tassels and gold thread, and was paired with dark green satin hats. Their bouquets held yellow roses and were tied off with a cute green ribbon, which complemented the bridesmaids’ hats. As his gift to the bridesmaids, the groom gave each of them a white enamel and gold bracelet with small, purple amethysts on them.
Following the lovely ceremony, the wedding party moved to the location of the reception. The reception was held at Castle Towers, and to make the day even better, the weather was perfect which allowed the reception to be held on the patios of Castle Towers. The newlyweds also hired the Royal Warwickshire Regiment who played some lovely music and gave a romantic mood to the newlyweds’ reception. At the reception, the newlyweds were given a number of wedding gifts such as a silver pepper-port, a stamp box made from copper, a silver mounted jack jug, and many other useful presents.
In another blog post, a different wedding is reported with the same title. This one describes the marriage of Captain Charlton and Gwendoline Whitaker, who also wore a crown of orange flowers to her ceremony. This blog post hits on the facts that even now, marriages are normally not publicly broadcasted unless it is a wedding of importance. The marriage of Captain Charles Massie Blomfield and Miss Hirell Clarence was published in the “Egyptian Gazette” along with very personal details of the wedding.
This article was published in the “Egyptian Gazette”, so the question still remains: why would people in Alexandria want to read about the marriage of two London locals? After conducting some research, it appears that the groom, Captain Charles Massie Blomfield was born in London, but lived in Port House, Alexandria until the age of nine. His father was the man in charge of the Port of Alexandria and then Director General of all ports in Egypt. With this kind of history in Egypt, it is hard to imagine that Captain Blomfield and his new wife would not have an article of their wedding published in the “Egyptian Gazette”. To the people of Port House, Alexandria, Charles Blomfield is basically a local.
Emily Seguin
Student
The author, a student at Florida State University, was enrolled in the digital microhistory lab in fall 2019.