Identical twin sisters Susan McDougall and Ann Lee, aged 72, are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversaries today after marrying their husbands on the same day at the same church in 1976.
The double wedding took place at St Mary's Church in Howdon on October 2, 1976, and was featured by the Newcastle Chronicle at the time. Susan, the eldest by five minutes, married her husband Sam, aged 70, first, followed by Ann, who married her husband John, aged 73.
Couples to celebrate with meals and a family party
The couples, from Hadrian Park in Wallsend, will celebrate the anniversary separately by going out for a meal, followed by a family party this weekend. The four will also mark the occasion with a joint holiday to Spain later this month.
Susan said the secret to a long-lasting marriage is to help each other, get along, and compromise, as well as having a laugh together. "We're best friends. We've grown up together. We were only teenagers when we met just 16 and 18 so we learned to give and take over the years," she told ChronicleLive.
A tribute to their late father
Susan explained how the double wedding came about: "Me and Sam had already planned our wedding. When we told Ann and John they thought it would be a good idea if they got married on the same day. At first we weren't going to as we wanted our own special day but then we thought for our mum."
"We had lost our dad dead young and remembered him saying 'the next time I walk down the aisle I hope it's with the twins on each arm' and that's always stuck in our mind, the thing dad would of loved, so we thought it would be a lovely tribute for him, knowing the two of us were going together. Mum was thrilled, she was over the moon."
On the wedding day, each couple had their own bridesmaids and best man. Susan added: "When we got to the church the vicar said to the two lads now are you sure you know which one you're marrying."
"In the morning it was raining but by the time we got ready for 1pm there was loads of people there and the sun was blazing it was beautiful." The couples shared a huge four-tier cake but each hired a photographer from Harrisons on Shields Road for individual pictures. "For the night time everybody went to the Wallsend Labour Club and it was lovely," Susan continued.
Families and close cousins
Both twins went on to have families of their own, each having two children. Susan and Sam also share three granddaughters and a grandson, while Ann and John have a granddaughter and a grandson. Susan added: "Because me and Anne are mirrored twins, I'm all right-sided and she's all left-sided. When we had our daughter first then Ann fell pregnant she had her boy first. Then when I had my boy second, Anne had her girl second. All of the family get on together, they've always been close cousins."
The twins are two of five sisters. Their sister, Lynn Betham, 69, said: "I think this is a wonderful achievement and not many people get to 50 years."
Lynn told ChronicleLive that because they lost their father young their mother brought them up. "As my mum used to say, she was the glove and we were her five fingers. I'm the youngest so I was the baby finger."
"She was just so funny, she would say the thumb was the oldest, Josephine, the two middle fingers are the twins, and the index finger was Margaret because she's the hard worker and that's how she used to describe us, it was so cute."
Lynn, who lives in Morpeth, returned to the UK after 28 years in New Zealand following the loss of her husband. She described her sisters as an invaluable support system. "Even though I lived 12,000 miles away, when my husband was dying it was like I was in the next room [from them] because everyday they phoned and we've got a WhatsApp group and everyday they all were on just to get me through it and help. We're there at the drop of a hat. We're more like friends really."
Lynn added that some of the 'twinisms' of Susan and Ann are "uncanny". "I always remember one New Years Day I'd invited the family round for drinks and Susan arrived first in a beautiful cream blouse and black pants. About half an hour later Anne turned up in exactly the same clothes."
"They always choose the same card for birthdays too. You can tell they're twins they are very similar." She jokes: "They're best friends, their children are best friends, they go on holiday together still, they do everything together still, it's quite weird really!"
"I love sitting in their company with their families as they all have really good banter and a bit of laugh, it's just lovely when your family are close."
