Elizabeth Chamberlain

Elizabeth, known to her family as Biddy, was my mother. She grew up in Dun Laoghaire where her father was the rector of the Mariners’ Church, Dun Laoghaire. She left home when she was 19 and went to England to serve in the WRNS, the Women’s Royal Naval Service during the 2nd World War. She married her first husband, Michael Beresford-Jones in 1943. He was killed in a flying accident six weeks later. She married my father Dr Andy Parsons in 1945. They emigrated to New Zealand in 1947. In 1955 they went to live on the Pacific island of Samoa. Andy Parsons was lost at sea in 1955, en route from Samoa to the Tokelau Islands. Elizabeth returned to Ireland in 1963 with her four children. In 1965 she married Peter Dobbs. However, they separated in 1972. Lizzie, as we called her, was much loved by all who knew her. She was full of life and was a great story teller.