Thus we come to 1919 – the war is over – Charles Brooke Wright is at Turkey court; he is a bachelor of 44 or so
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and eligible! My mother Constance from a sheltered country background is about 25 and is visiting with her friends Mrs Dowling and Dr Barclay. They are invited to the Court to dinner and my father is smitten!
She visits Maidstone again later in the year and this time her Naval fiancé accompanies her and again Brooke invites Dr Barclay and Mrs Dowling to dinner. When she arrives the men remain downstairs and Connie and Bill go upstairs with their wraps. As she comes down the stairs my father is waiting for her. He pins a single red rose to the bow on her evening dress and says ”My love is like a red – red rose newly bloomed in Spring”. Meanwhile the fiancé seeing all this and sitting in the hall waiting with Dr Barclay is livid. They go into the dining room for dinner and Daddy behaves disgracefully. Afterwards he plays some jazz music on the gramophone and takes Mummy into the large lounge to dance with her. He kisses her and the fiancé sitting again on the couch in the smaller lounge and looking through to their big mirror over the fireplace sees it all.
Later back at Dr Barclays he gets crossed with Mummy and says ”You love that man. …etc” and storms out all the house. A week or so later there is another invitation to dine with Brooke. This
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time Daddy is prepared. He has got and engagement ring on” sale of return” and has arranged with the butler to have chilled champagne on the ready. He also alerts Aunty Bill.
On the morning of the dinner party a Lionel Gork invited Mummy to go boating with him on the River Medway. She fell in, got wet, got her hair wet and return to Auntie Bill ready to have a hot bath and go to bed.
“I thought you were never coming home” Auntie Bill said ”Hurry up we’re due at Brooke’s place at 7 PM”. “I am not going” said my mother. ” Yes you are” said Auntie Bill and she made Mummy have a hot bath and she put Mummy’s long hair on the ironing board and ironed it dry. My mother was cranky and refused to dress in evening dress and put on a simple white muslin dress (Daddy said later he was enchanted with her freshness and simplicity).
The party arrived at the Court and as arranged my father suggested a walk in the garden. They had only crossed the stone flag courtyard and walk up the three steps towards the rose garden and the grapevines when Daddy popped that question. Giving my mother no time to say anything he placed the engagement ring on her finger and return to Dr Barclay and Mrs Dowling and the butler all prepared and ready with champagne.
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They were married in September 1920 at Bexley Church which was my father’s church. Grandad’s church was All Saints in Maidstone. Grandad Bush (in Naval uniform) came specially to give Connie away and Daddy’s Air Force friend “Chuck” was his best man. I believe Chuck later came to Melbourne to live.
1920 Wedding Charles Brook Wright and Constance Bush
My mother used to tell me stories of the early days of her marriage. How Daddy had the living rooms so dimly and romantically lit (in various colours) that she couldn’t properly see to do her embroidery. How she used to go in to her Boudou and unloose her hair and brush it and Daddy came into the Boudou one afternoon and was shocked to find her with her hair down in this fashion. Another day he could not find her, and she was up in the top of the horse chestnut tree dressed in riding breeches.
They used to do a lot all entertaining in the early 1920s and eventually Mummy had all her long hair cut off and trimmed like a man. She smoked cigarettes in a holder about 2½ feet long and wore very long earrings.
1925 Constance Wright with cropped hair
