DURROW’S REAL-LIFE FAIRYTALE ROMANCE
DURROW’S REAL-LIFE FAIRYTALE – HOW A FISHERGIRL BECAME LADY ASKBROOK:
Exhibition Launch and Talk
What better way to mark the start of the festive season than learning of a real-life fairytale? Exactly 250 years ago this year, William Flower, The Second Viscount Ashbrook and Third Baron Castle Durrow married Betty Ridge – the daughter of a humble Thames fisherman. Their story is one of class tensions and political unrest moving from the banks of the Thames to Castle Durrow and even Blenheim Palace.
To celebrate this remarkable story, Laois County Libraries will launch an exhibition curated especially for Durrow by the Oxford historian and author Julie Ann Godson. Based on her own research, Julie has published a book called “The Water Gypsy” which traces the story of the Ridge and Flower families and she will be present on the night to give an illustrated talk on this extraordinary couple.
DURROW’S REAL-LIFE FAIRYTALE ROMANCE
The event will begin at 7.30pm on this Tuesday the 6th of December in Durrow Library. Light refreshments will be served after the talk and all are most welcome to attend. Laois County Libraries would like to acknowledge the support of Castle Durrow and Sheppard’s Auction House for this event.