Broughtons’ love stands test of time
Tom and Irene Broughton celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary this week.
ALMOST 66 years ago Irene and Tom Broughton first started dating. This week the couple celebrates their 60th wedding anniversary.
They met when Irene was 16 and Tom was 24. Both were working for the British Post Office at the time. Irene said her parents didn’t like the age gap between the two, and added they only dated a few months as a result.
“Tom then moved to a different department at the post office and we met up again three years later. I remember telling a friend that if Tom asked me out again, I’d marry him,” Irene said.
Then, at Irene’s 21st birthday on 24 August, Tom proposed in front of all her friends and family. Just six months later, Tom and Irene said their vows on 26 February 1955 at St John’s Anglican Church in Liverpool and followed up their wedding day with a honeymoon in London.
Their first child, Alison Cerff, was born in Britain in 1956 and a year later the couple immigrated to then Rhodesia, where they welcomed their second child, Susan Gager. It was in 1961 that the couple eventually had a boy, Don, who was also born in Rhodesia.
They have two granddaughters and two grandsons.
“Tom has been a fantastic husband and father,” Irene said. Tom echoed Irene’s words: “We’ve had a very happy marriage so far, mainly due to the fact that we have wonderful children.”
Marriage is no difficult feat for the couple as they worked together in the civil service in Britain and Rhodesia: “We just get on so well together.”
The couple decided to leave Rhodesia in 1982 and moved to Pietermaritzburg, where they lived for 25 years. Both worked for the Natal Parks Board at the time. In 2007 they moved to Hillcrest to be closer to their daughters and grandchildren.
The couple celebrated their anniversary with their family in January when Don flew in from the Middle East.
This weekend they will celebrate with their bowls family, which they cannot praise enough.
“We started playing bowls in 1993. Bowls and our bowling family have been wonderful to us. We’ve met so many wonderful people and made so many wonderful friends. We will be celebrating our 60th wedding anniversary with our friends from the Hillcrest Bowling Club,” Irene said.
