As high society events go, the wedding of Orville Alton Turnquest to Edith Louise Thompson in February 1955, was among the noteworthy events of the wedding season that year.
We tend to forget that ‘they’ were all young once. By ‘they’ I mean the men and women we have come to revere as historical figures and heroes in the story of The Bahamas. They were young and like most of us at some time or another, fell in love.
Bahamians maintained that time honoured tradition of the groom’s stag party, usually held, a day or two before the wedding.
Gerald Cash, who would go on to become Sir Gerald Cash (1917-2003) and the third Governor General of The Bahamas (1979-1986), was apparently toastmaster at the stag party of his legal colleague and friend, Orville Turnquest, who would also go on to earn the title Sir and become the sixth Governor General of The Bahamas.
Born in 1929, Orville A. Turnquest was just twenty-six years old in 1955. He was already a much sought after legal mind and barrister. By 1959, he would be appointed an acting magistrate.
Orville Turnquest was also one of Nassau’s most eligible young bachelors, but not for long.
A fashionable wedding takes place at St. Matthew’s Church at 6 p.m today when Miss Edith Louise Thompson will be married to Orville A. Turnquest, Nassau Attorney and second son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert W. Turnquest.
The Nassau Guardian 20th February 1955
The ceremony will be performed by the Rev. Donald Lambert assisted by Canon Milton E. Cooper.
The Lord Bishop of Nassau will attend.
The Nassau Guardian 20th February 1955
Following the ceremony a reception will be held at the home of the Bride’s mother, Montrose Avenue.
Gerald C. Cash, Barrister-at-Law was toastmaster at a stag party given Friday night for Mr. Orville A. Turnquest.
Given at the Mackey Street residence of Basil North, the party was attended by Junior Magistrate Kendal Isaacs, Paul Adderley, Harold Munnings, Rudolph Moultrie, Basil L. Sands, Cyril Fountain, Dr. Francis Adderley and Charles Lunn Jr.
Sir Orville Turnquest and Lady Edith Turnquest were married in 1955, and went on to have a long and blessed marriage for many decades.
Sir Orville Alton Turnquest GCMG KC JP was the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister of The Bahamas from 1992 to 1994, and the sixth Governor General of the Bahamas from 3 January 1995 until his retirement on 13 November 2001.
