Rosemary Meredith (nee 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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Marriage with John Meredith
Personality
Physical appearance
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
- The Road to Yesterday
- "Here Comes the Bride" (mentioned only)
- The Blythes Are Quoted
- "The Second Evening" (mentioned only)
- "Here Comes the Bride" (mentioned only)
Notes and references
- ↑ Rainbow Valley (Chapter 2: Sheer Gossip)
- ↑ Rainbow Valley (Chapter 13: The House on the Hill)