Aubrey and Mary at the reception after their wedding on 19th May 1956.

Life with Mary Regan – Newport

Aubrey met Mary Regan at the Palm Court Dance Hall in Newport around 1951. Both outgoing with fun-loving personalities, they soon became very close, and within a short time had decided they wanted to get married. However, at the time they met, Aubrey’s divorce from his first wife Connie was not finalised. In addition, Mary was also a committed Catholic, and would only marry Aubrey if he converted to Catholicism.

Under most circumstances this would have been the end of their relationship. However, the fact that neither Aubrey nor Connie had been baptised at this time meant that Aubrey’s marriage could be dissolved under a Catholic Church canon law known as the Pauline Privilege, and Aubrey and Mary could therefore get married.

Aubrey and Mary were married on 19th May 1956 at St. Marys Church on Stow Hill. Initially living with Aubrey at his fathers flat at 373 Malpas Road, Aubrey and Mary moved into 66 Preston Avenue two years later in 1958, a year after their first child Annette was born. They lived in Preston Avenue for the rest of their lives and had three more children, before Aubrey died in 1998. Mary outlived Aubrey by twelve years, and died in St. Woolas Hospital on 10th April 2010.

More details of Aubrey and Mary’s time together will be detailed on this page at a later date.