Dorothy - Vicar's wife and divorcee
Dorothy Speedy Jenner Mellsop was the last child born to James and Emma Mellsop at the Mangere School House where both parents were teachers. She was 8 years old when her father died suddenly from a stroke.
Dorothy married a dashing Anglican minister, William Henry Edgell at the Holy Trinity church Devonport, in 1910 when she was 19 years old. William was born in Kent, studied theology at St Augustus College Canterbury and was ordained Deacon in 1897 and Priest in 1899. He had served as a missionary in the New Hebrides, translating scripture into native languages, and after a brief return to England because of ill health, he served for the Diocese of Auckland before he married Dorothy - he was 37 when they married.
After their marriage William was Vicar of Te Aroha (1914 - 16). It appears that Dorothy confessed 3 years after they were married that she was in love with another man, who was subsequently killed in Gallipoli, which prompted the move from Auckland to the Waikato. William resigned his benefice in 1916 and the couple went to England where William was appointed TCRN to the HMS Gibraltar in 1917. Their separation, due to William being at sea, may have caused some strain on their relationship, and it was during this time that Dorothy wrote to him and confessed to an inadvertent indiscretion. Reverend Edgell petitioned for divorce in 1919, and this was uncontested by his wife. (See Papers Past article of 3 April 1919 - excerpt pictured.) An account of the divorce was published in the Auckland Star under the headline: "Dorothy's Diversions".
In 1923, Dorothy married a younger man - Walter Scott, an Auckland Building Society director, while her former husband progressed to posts in Norfolk, Malta, Smyrna (today called Izmir, about 30 miles north of Ephesus) and other towns on the Turkish coast including Boudjah, and Bournabat. Reverend Edgell eventually returned to England and was the rector of Chelmondiston, Suffolk, from 1932 until his death in 1960.
Walter Scott, Dorothy's second husband, died in 1971, six years after Dorothy.
Dorothy's dates:
Born 26 September 1891 at the School House, Mangere, Auckland
Died 1965, at Remuera, Auckland
Dorothy married a dashing Anglican minister, William Henry Edgell at the Holy Trinity church Devonport, in 1910 when she was 19 years old. William was born in Kent, studied theology at St Augustus College Canterbury and was ordained Deacon in 1897 and Priest in 1899. He had served as a missionary in the New Hebrides, translating scripture into native languages, and after a brief return to England because of ill health, he served for the Diocese of Auckland before he married Dorothy - he was 37 when they married.
After their marriage William was Vicar of Te Aroha (1914 - 16). It appears that Dorothy confessed 3 years after they were married that she was in love with another man, who was subsequently killed in Gallipoli, which prompted the move from Auckland to the Waikato. William resigned his benefice in 1916 and the couple went to England where William was appointed TCRN to the HMS Gibraltar in 1917. Their separation, due to William being at sea, may have caused some strain on their relationship, and it was during this time that Dorothy wrote to him and confessed to an inadvertent indiscretion. Reverend Edgell petitioned for divorce in 1919, and this was uncontested by his wife. (See Papers Past article of 3 April 1919 - excerpt pictured.) An account of the divorce was published in the Auckland Star under the headline: "Dorothy's Diversions".
In 1923, Dorothy married a younger man - Walter Scott, an Auckland Building Society director, while her former husband progressed to posts in Norfolk, Malta, Smyrna (today called Izmir, about 30 miles north of Ephesus) and other towns on the Turkish coast including Boudjah, and Bournabat. Reverend Edgell eventually returned to England and was the rector of Chelmondiston, Suffolk, from 1932 until his death in 1960.
Walter Scott, Dorothy's second husband, died in 1971, six years after Dorothy.
Dorothy's dates:
Born 26 September 1891 at the School House, Mangere, Auckland
Died 1965, at Remuera, Auckland