68369: Mary Daines and Edmund Blunden

Photograph of Edmund Blunden with his first wife Mary Daines. The inscription was written by Edmund Blunden's daughter, Margi Blunden: 'Mary Daines and Edmund Blunden / Stowlangtoft 1918 / They married in Newmarket on June 1st 1918'. Mary's brothers Jack and Bert in particular inspired some of his poetry, including 'Winter, East Anglia', 'Mole Catcher' and 'Autolycus Again'. Their marriage caused him to lose his scholarship to Oxford and to accept demobilisation from the army in mid-February 1918. The couple divorced in February 1931.