Sunday 13 July 2008

Romance in Nigeria



I am on a week's holiday in Killarney with Caroline and the kids. We are staying at my parents' house - Edgar and Jean Ritchie. I thought I would do a few interviews about their life. This first blog is about their meeting.


Edgar Ritchie went as a medical missionary to Umuahia in eastern Nigeria in 1961. In 1965 twenty-eight year old Jean Kingston arrived as a midwife to the same hospital. Edgar's brother Derek and his wife Joan were praying that romance would blossom between the two.



Paul: Had your paths crossed before you got to know each other in Nigeria?


Jean: Yes. When I went to Wesley College he was the head boy, captain of the rugby and all the rest. He was so highly thought of and I was a raw little girl from west Cork. . . . If someone had told me then that I would end up marrying you [addressing Ed] it would have been like a fairy story. . . . I don't think we would have seen each other after that . . . Apart from seeing him at George Good's valedictory where he [Ed] was also being commissioned for overseas work.


Shortly after Jean arrived in Umuahia Edgar returned to Ireland on furlough. He returned six months later.


Paul: When did you realise that you were going to be more than friends?


Edgar: On the way back from Onitcha [where he had brought Jean to assess the student midwives]. We met an ekpo man [ekpo are a secret men's society - this man would have been dressed fantastically in a mask and headgear]. Jean got out of the car to take photographs and I persuaded her to leave that poor man alone!!! [He considered it unwise and probably dangerous.]


[Jean asked Edgar if he remembered what they talked about in the car]. I explained to Jean that as a missionary who was a single person one had to face the reality one might not marry.



Paul: Edgar, how long was it before you proposed?



Edgar: Shortly afterwards [within weeks].



Paul: Jean, how did Edgar propose?


Jean: He arrived early on a Sunday morning [around 6am]. He knocked on the shutter and invited me up to breakfast. I couldn't go immediately as someone had put rollers in my hair and they were coming back to style it for me. So two to three hours later I arrived at his house to find his cook had gone. I am still waiting for that breakfast! Sitting on the couch he just looked at me and said 'will you marry me?' . . . It came as a big surprise.


Paul: Where did you get married and where did you go on your honeymoon?



Jean: 2nd Jun 1966, on a beautiful sunny day [about a year after she had arrived in Nigeria]. [They were married in Drimoleague, West Cork]. We had one week in Castlegregory and the second week in Amsterdam, breaking our journey back to Nigeria.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Two extremely blessed people, the kingdom of Kerry and the Kingdom of God are richer for the Ritchies

Chimere Nkwocha said...

Hi! Not sure if anyone will read this, but Dr. Edgar Ritchie is actually my God Father. I was born a premature of 26 weeks at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Umuahia and he was my mum’s gynecologist and colleague.. I’ve been trying to reach him for ages to be honest. I hope someone responds to this.

Chimere Nkwocha said...

Hi! Not sure if anyone will read this, but Dr. Edgar Ritchie is actually my God Father. I was born a premature of 26 weeks at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Umuahia and he was my mum’s gynecologist and colleague.. I’ve been trying to reach him for ages to be honest. I hope someone responds to this.

Chimere Nkwocha said...

Hi! Not sure if anyone will read this, but Dr. Edgar Ritchie is actually my God Father. I was born a premature of 26 weeks at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Umuahia and he was my mum’s gynecologist and colleague.. I’ve been trying to reach him for ages to be honest. I hope someone responds to this.