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Rosemary Meredith (née West) was the second wife of John Meredith, the mother of Bruce and the step-mother of Jerry, Faith, Una and Carl.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Rosemary was born in 1871 in Glen St. Mary to Mr. and Mrs. West as their youngest child. She was raised there along with her two siblings, her older sister Ellen, who was ten years Rosemary's senior, and her brother Bruce, who was four years older than Rosemary.

In 1874, when she was three years old, her father died. They buried him in the Glen St. Mary graveyard. Rosemary was too young to understand and could not remember him. Five years later, her brother Bruce died. Rosemary and Ellen were devastated as they loved their brother dearly. They buried him next to their father in the Glen St. Mary graveyard.

After Bruce's death, Rosemary and Ellen lived with their mother and the three grew very close to each other. The girls were not very socially inclined, and did not mingle with the other young folks in the Glen or Lowbridge, though Ellen's wit and spirit, and Rosemary's sweetness and beauty were welcomed where they did go.

Engagement with Martin Crawford[]

In the late 1880s, she courted Martin Crawford, a young man from Glen St. Mary. They met in Rainbow Valley one night where Martin proposed. Rosemary accepted, but their engagement was broken in 1888 when Martin died in a shipwreck off the coast of the Magdalen Islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.[1] Rosemary was heartbroken but the pain eventually faded and was replaced by the "unforgettable sweetness" of their time spent together.[2]

Life with Ellen[]

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Update for events from Rainbow Valley and Rilla of Ingleside.

When Martin failed to return to Rosemary, Ellen asked her to promise that she would never marry, so that Ellen would never be left to live alone. Rosemary and Ellen spent much time alone together in their family home, until John Meredith befriended Rosemary and Ellen through visits to their home.

Marriage with John Meredith[]

Rosemary got a proposal from John Meredith, but her sister Ellen forbade her to marry him. Ellen finally allowed Rosemary to do so and she herself married Norman Douglas.

Personality[]

Rosemary had a gentle and kind personality. She comforted Faith Meredith when she was upset, even before she married Mr Meredith.

Physical appearance[]

She had golden hair like Leslie West.

Etymology[]

Rosemary is female given name of Latin origin and means dew of the sea.

Behind the scenes[]

Trivia

  • Both West girls, Rosemary and Leslie, had golden hair and named their sons after their dead brothers who died as young children. Rosemary named her son Bruce Meredith after her brother Bruce and Leslie named her son Kenneth Ford after her little brother Kenneth West. In the Victorian era, it was common for people to "recycle" names when naming children. When new parents thought of names, they would usually think of anyone in their family that had died and would honour them by naming their child after them.

Appearances[]

Book appearances

Short story appearances

Notes and references[]

  1. Rainbow Valley (Chapter 2: Sheer Gossip)
  2. Rainbow Valley (Chapter 13: The House on the Hill)
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