Brita PALIN nee GALLAGHER (General)

by slowhands , proud of his ancient Dean Forest roots, Tuesday, March 24, 2009, 04:44 (5796 days ago) @ slowhands

a rather intriguing nineteenth century romance set in Switzerland and France. The story begins with the birth of Michael's great grandmother, Brita Gallagher, around 1845, in Ireland.( Letterkenny, County Donegal ?)

Tragedy was to strike Brita at an early age, as both her parents perished in the potato famine. Orphaned, with only a label on her dress to identify her, she was sent to America like so many of her peers in one of the infamous 'coffin ships', so called because of the high mortality rate amongst those on board. She was brought up by a rich spinster called Caroline Watson, and was then sent back to Europe to receive an education aged 16.

She traveled for several years, before making a chance encounter with an English academic called Edward Palin in a hotel in Switzerland, who was an Oxford Don at the time at St John's College. Although there was a seventeen-year age gap, they were attracted to one another, but nothing came of things; according to his diary, he wistfully ponders on 'what might have been'. However, they kept in touch and in 1867 they got married in Paris once she'd attained the age of 21.

Their problems were not over, though; Edward was forced to give up his position in college but secured a living as the vicar of Linton, Herefordshire. The couple lived in some degree of comfort, bringing up their seven children with the help of a large domestic staff.

--
Ἀριστοτέλης A Gloster & Hereford Boy in the Forest of Dean ><((((*>