BRIDE FOUND

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23037, 14 May 1938, Page 2 (Supplement)

BRIDE FOUND

FARMER'S ROMANCE QUEST FOR HOUSEKEEPER "JUST LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT" RECOVERING from the shock of his wife's death a year ago, Mr. Stephen Norman Mew, a 40-year-old farmer, of Moffat, Ontario, decided that a trip to England to see his old home would be beneficial. He also thought he might, with luck, find a housekeeper who would help him to look after his home and the upbringing of his two young sons. So in November last ho sailed for England, and while staying with his parents at Wootton, in the Isle of Wight, he advertised in a local newspaper for a housekeeper. "Really Too Funny" As a result of that advertisement he interviewed 25 women, old and young, to whom the adventure of starting life afresh in the Dominion appealed. None of them, however, made a favourable impression on Mr. Mew. Then No. 26 arrived.

She was pretty brunette Miss Anne Milson, 27-year-old governess, of Croydon, London, who was staying at Ryde with her employers.

Miss Milson had never been a housekeeper, but she had the urge to travel. The other day she sailed from Southampton for Canada in the liner Antonia, not as a housekeeper, but as Mr. Mew's bride of five days.

"As soon as I saw Miss Milson I gave up all idea of a housekeeper and thought immediately about a wife," Mr. Mew said before sailing. "Tho interview was really funny, because on my part it was love at first sight." At this point Mrs. Mew chimed in: "And on mine, too." "I saw her again," explained Mr. Mew, "and on the second meeting I felt 1 had to propose to her or sacrifice all possible future happiness. To my surprise and delight she said 'Yes.' "We were married five days ago at Ryde. I have written to my boys, who are staying with an aunt at Toronto, and told them 1 am bringing home a new mother." "I Have No Regrets" Mrs. Mew, holding her husband's hand, said, "Yes, it really is a romance because, until I met Stephen, 1 always thought myself a confirmed man-hater. "1 don't think either of us, however, thought about the housekeeping job after the first minute of our meeting. It is going to be a great experience for me because 1 love the country. "Really I have no regrets at leaving England, because I am an orphan, and have no near relatives to worry about — or worry me. Half of our courtship, as a matter of fact, has been occupied by Stephen telling me the whys and wherefores of farm life, and it has been wonderful.

"Of course, I shall not be lonely. What better company could one have than two lively young farmer's sons to care for and train ?

"The difference in our ages—well, believe me, I have not thought about it." Mr. Mew went to Canada 27 years ago, and now owns a thriving 100-acre farm, seven miles from the nearest town.