East Lothian Courier | News | Couple’s 50 years of happy marriage

Tuesday, 7th October, 2008

Published: Thursday, 26th June, 2008 08:15

Couple’s 50 years of happy marriage

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WONDERFUL memories came flooding back to two Haddington couples celebrating their golden wedding anniversaries.

Thomas and Catherine Trotter and Jack and Edith Sherlaw enjoyed large family reunions as they marked their half centuries as man and wife.

In the case of Mr and Mrs Trotter, of Auction Mart, it was a larger than usual gathering who turned up at the Linton Hotel, East Linton, to wish them all the best. Their immediate family circle numbers 48, including six surviving children, 16 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

The parents of local councillor Tom Trotter, they first met at the 1956 Nungate gala dance.

Catherine, 72 and originally from Dunbar, recalled: “Tom made the first move. His dancing wasn’t up to much – he had two left feet, but he was a very handsome man and his patter was infectious. We hit it off right away and got engaged five months later.”

The pair tied the knot at Dunbar Parish Church on June 21, 1958, thereafter honeymooning in Fife.

Thomas, from Haddington, was a coalman in the family business, while Catherine worked at the former Kilspindie Knitwear factory as a sock stamper, pressing the company’s logo onto every sock that rolled off the production line until she left to start a family in 1959, when Tom was born.

His siblings – Margaret, Linda, Aileen, Billy, Iain and Catherine – followed at regular intervals up until 1968. Iain tragically died from muscular dystrophy in 1983.

“Overall, we have had a wonderful life together,” said Thomas. “My wife has great patience and a great sense of humour. She is very easy to get on with.”

Meanwhile, more than 40 family and friends toasted the health of Jack and Edith Sherlaw at their home in Knowes Road last week.

The couple, originally from Edinburgh, have lived in the county town since 1969. They married on June 13, 1958, in the Capital.

Said Edith, 71: “I was 17 and doing my nurse training in Edinburgh prior to starting at Roodlands Hospital when my colleague Isobel Lightly, Jack’s younger sister, invited me back to her home after a shift. Jack just happened to be around, we hit it off and it all went from there.

“I think what has kept us going strong all these years is that we are still very much in love. Jack is very romantic, he is always sending me cards and bringing me flowers.”

Jack, 75, a former instrument mechanic at Cockenzie Power Station, added: “We also have a shared sense of humour. It’s good to have a laugh. In the bad times you realise you can’t take things seriously for very long.”

They have three daughters and six grandchildren, all living in East Lothian.

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