Captain Scott's Invaluable Assistant by Isobel E Williams

Author:Isobel E Williams
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780752477602
Publisher: The History Press
Published: 2011-12-13T16:00:00+00:00

He went to London to be ‘Paid Off’ from the expedition. The Certificate of Discharge states his date of discharge as 30 September 1904; importantly the certificate grades both his ‘Character for Conduct’ and ‘Character for Ability’ as ‘Very Good’. He continued in full-time naval employment as a Petty Officer. His Certificate of Service records the date of his promotion to 1st Class Petty Officer as 2 April 1904 (when Discovery was in New Zealand) and this provided a modest financial boost; pay for a 1st Class Petty Officer was £39 10s 10d.20 Although he had assured the reporter of the South Wales Daily Post that he had no marriage plans, he was in fact going back to Middleton regularly to pursue his friendship with his pretty cousin, Lois Beynon. He had been away from any domestic comfort for three years. Lois was a girl from a similar background (her father William, was Edgar’s uncle, his mother’s brother), who had been brought up in the public house in Middleton. She was someone who understood him. She was spirited, attractive, and musical. Edgar was a well-known young man, intelligent, good looking, affectionate and musical. A marriage was arranged in a very short time and was solemnised on 13 December 1904, just a little less than fourteen weeks from Edgar’s arrival back in England.

Welsh interest in the marriage was not only directed towards the now famous Swansea boy but also to Lois. As well as being familiar to patrons of the Ship, Lois was known in Rhossili for her lovely singing voice. Evening entertainment then was often in the form of musical soirées and Lois frequently contributed to these; duets (often with the daughter of the Rector who had married Edgar’s parents), Blow Gentle Wind, and solos, O’er Life’s Dark Sea, were regularly performed and, more cheerfully, Arthur Sullivan’s Three Little Maids. When she married her explorer on 13 December, ‘Rhossili was agog with excitement’.21 Lois was described as the youngest daughter of Mr and Mrs Beynon of the popular Ship Inn. Edgar, as a man who had ‘sprung to prominence by reason of the fact that he was one of the crew of Discovery sent out for the purpose of Antarctic exploration’.22

He described himself modestly, according to the clearly impressed Gower Church Magazine, ‘as a simple mariner’.23 The Rector, The Reverend Lewis Hughes, performed the ceremony and the celebrations were noisy. A ‘feu de joie’, a rifle salute with rifles fired in quick succession so that the sound is continuous, added to the boisterous festivities.24 Lois looked delightful. She wore white silk, trimmed with cream chiffon with a matching picture hat. She carried the ivory-bound prayer book that Edgar had given her and was attended by two bridesmaids whom Edgar presented with dress rings. One of Lois’ brothers, Enoch, was best man and the full choir gave vocal support. A wedding breakfast in the Ship Inn followed and the happy pair departed for London, their departure serenaded by coastguards and farmers who vied with each other by firing more gun salutes.

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