My father Samuel Wait had suffered severely from tuberculosis after leaving the army and during his long convalescence had trained at Maidstone Art College as a compositor. On Friday August 31st 1956 he was finally discharged from Preston Hall Chest Hospital and the following day he married Joyce Coward at St. Anne's Church, Stamford Hill in Tottenham.
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| Wedding Certificate of Sam and Joyce Wait |
The first thing to notice on the certificate is the name of Sam's father. It is written as Richard Wait. Sam's father seems to have preferred the name Richard although he was baptised William Robert Victor Wait (1899-1966).
Sam's Best Man was Nicki Spencer a close friend from the British Legion Press. Nicki was Polish and during WWII had been in a Concentration Camp and fought with the French Resistance against the Nazis.
Their Page Boy was Colin Coward, the son of Joyce's brother, Reginald Coward (b.1926) and his wife Audrey Harris (1928-2012). The Bridesmaids were Joyce's sister, Dorothy 'Dolly' Greene (née Coward 1925-1972) and her daughters Sandra and Thelma Greene. Allan Greene, Dorothy's husband attended the wedding and Francis Ferris, a close friend of Joyce, was also a bridesmaid.
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| Descendants of John Coward |
Joyce was given away by her grandfather James William Harris
(1879-1964). Along with Reg and his wife were Joyce's two other brothers Kenneth (1928-1994) and Albert Eddie Coward (b.1934) along with Eddie's new wife Jean Coward (née Pascoe). Eddie and Jean were married in the same church at the beginning of the year. But John Coward (1923-2001), Joyce's eldest brother, did not attend because of a family rift over Marc Cooper, his stepfather.
Sam only had one relative at his wedding - George E. Parfitt. George was the husband of his great aunt Annie, sister of his grandmother, Jane Lacey. Annie Parfitt was too ill to travel from Worthing in Sussex.
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| Joyce and Sam at the British Legion Hall. James Harris is on Joyce's right |
Joyce and Sam's wedding reception was held at the British Legion Hall in High Cross Road, Tottenham in London. There were over a hundred guests, including people from Preston Hall and the British Legion Press. It was here that Sam demonstrated his ability to dance the waltz. He had been taught it especially for his wedding by Les Walster, a friend from the British Legion.
After their reception, Joyce and Sam travelled with cans rattling to Victoria Railway Station where they boarded the train to Kent. At Maidstone West they were met by Sam's friend Dickie Snell who took them by motorbike and sidecar to a large house at the top of Boxley Road (booked by Dickie) in Maidstone for their honeymoon. They stayed in a furnished room, owned by two old ladies, for two weeks until their house in 235 The Crescent, British Legion Village was decorated. The rent on the house was 10 shillings a week.
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| The Crescent, British Legion Village |
