Sarah
Hawkins Genealogy Site
Newspaper
Articles
Taunton Courier, and Western Advertiser Wednesday 05 Oct 1870
Page 3 Column 2
LANGPORT
FOXHUNTING EXTRAORDINARY. - Considerable amusement was created in the parish of Fivehead, near thip <sic> town, a few days since, by the sudden and unexpected departure of a young man who was about to be married. The banns had been duly published, and on the eve of the wedding-day the bridegroom expectant was in the company of the young lady of his choice until a late hour. Conviviality reigned, and “all went merry as a marriage bell.” The bridal morn arrived, the marriage feast was spread, the bride was ready with the usual mixture of tears and wreathed smiles, the guests were in attendance, the clergyman and other officials were at the church; and the bridegroom alone was wanting to effect the happy consummation so devoutly to be wished. Alas! It turned out to be a case of missed, and another illustration of the trite saying, “There's many a slip between the cup and the lip.” The individual who was intended to be converted into “the happiest man in the world,” apparently preferred a more moderate amount of bliss; at any rate, he did not put in an appearance, and it was reasonable to suppose that he had betaken himself to that uncertain ground whose “distance lends enchantment to the view.” So when it could no longer be doubted that the unworthy aspirant to matrimonial honours had levanted, the guests returned to their homes in vexatious disappointment; the bride becomingly fainted, and was indeed seriously affected by the heartless trick to which she had been subjected. Then weeping and wailing took the place of merrymaking and nuptial rejoicing; in short, the transformation was complete. To crown the notoriety of the affair, a local sportsman, who keeps a small pack of fox hounds, had out his dogs and scoured the country. The search, however, was in vain, for the bridegroom-intended had apparently “vanished as a phantom into thin air!”
<NOTES: The banns for only one couple were read out in 1870 at Fivehead, so by a process of elimination Edwin WEBBER and Mary Ann CHORLEY have to be the couple mentioned. They got married about 9 months later on the 13 Jul 1871 at Fivehead instead
Edwin WEBBER
son of Giles WEBBER and Charlotte HADDON, married Mary Ann
CHORLEY
Mary Ann CHORLEY daughter of William CHORLEY or LANGDON
and Fanny WESTLAKE, married Edwin WEBBER>