Darby & Joan
Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2025 6:25 pm
Has anybody watched the programme Darby & Joan with Bryan Brown and Greta Scacchi which is set in Australia? It’s really good, a nice laid back programme to watch.
Bryan Brown appeared in the TV programme The Thorn Birds in 1961 with the main character being Richard Chamberlain – swoon!! The main female character was Rachel Clare Ward and she married Bryan Brown in 1983. I really loved this series.
Some months ago I started writing about growing up in the Black Country. I was born at the Rosemary Ednam Maternity Hospital, so doing some digging and delving I found this:-
I never knew at the time when watching this T.V. programme that Rachel Clare Ward was the granddaughter of Rosemary Millicent (nee Sutherland-Leveson-Gower) and William Ward (who later became the 3rd Earl of Dudley) Viscountess and Viscount of Ednam and their traditional home was Himley Hall, Dudley. The Rosemary Ednam Maternity Hospital that used to stand in Burton Road, Dudley was named after her.
Rosemary Millicent was born in 1893 and was the youngest daughter of Cromartie Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 4th Duke of Sutherland and Millicent Leveson-Gower. Before Rosemary Millicent married William Ward in 1919, Edward VIII, Prince of Wales, proposed marriage to her, but his parents, King George V and Queen Mary were against the match, so it never happened. I do wonder though what would have happened if Edward VIII had had his wish.
Something we will never know, but it just shows you how watching TV programmes can lead to Family History.
Bryan Brown appeared in the TV programme The Thorn Birds in 1961 with the main character being Richard Chamberlain – swoon!! The main female character was Rachel Clare Ward and she married Bryan Brown in 1983. I really loved this series.
Some months ago I started writing about growing up in the Black Country. I was born at the Rosemary Ednam Maternity Hospital, so doing some digging and delving I found this:-
I never knew at the time when watching this T.V. programme that Rachel Clare Ward was the granddaughter of Rosemary Millicent (nee Sutherland-Leveson-Gower) and William Ward (who later became the 3rd Earl of Dudley) Viscountess and Viscount of Ednam and their traditional home was Himley Hall, Dudley. The Rosemary Ednam Maternity Hospital that used to stand in Burton Road, Dudley was named after her.
Rosemary Millicent was born in 1893 and was the youngest daughter of Cromartie Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 4th Duke of Sutherland and Millicent Leveson-Gower. Before Rosemary Millicent married William Ward in 1919, Edward VIII, Prince of Wales, proposed marriage to her, but his parents, King George V and Queen Mary were against the match, so it never happened. I do wonder though what would have happened if Edward VIII had had his wish.
Something we will never know, but it just shows you how watching TV programmes can lead to Family History.
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That's lovely having the same name without knowing.
