The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Wartime love letters are inspiration for designer
Former Dundee student’s tribute to grandparents’ abiding romance
A former Dundee student has turned her grandparents’ wartime love letters into a thriving jewellery business.
Former Duncan of Jordanstone student Rebecca Devine was inspired to create the collection documenting her grandparents’ transatlantic love story after the documents were rediscovered.
Trevor Smith and Margaret Gibb had only been together a few months before the RAF spitfire pilot went off to war in 1943.
Their love was kept alive in a threeyear separation through letters filled with declarations of devotion.
Rebecca has named her jewellery company Smith & Gibb.
The 28-year-old, who now lives in Glasgow, said around 300 letters written by her grandfather from Canada, where he was stationed between 1943 and 1946, have survived.
Rebecca said: “His letters mostly start with, ‘To my darling Margaret’ or ‘Dearest Margaret’ and he poured his heart into them.
“I still use their story as inspiration for my work.
“I think about my grandparents a lot when I’m making and designing jewellery. I’ve got their wedding photograph tacked up in my studio, alongside a bundle of letters in a drawer. They had a romantic life from beginning to end.”
She added: “It all really started when I was in my third year of studying for an undergraduate degree in jewellery and metal design at Duncan of Jordanstone.
“We were working on a project loosely based on a Valentine’s theme, finding inspiration, designing and making pieces of jewellery and I explained the project to my parents and family. That prompted my aunt Maggie to tell me about my papa’s love letters.
“After moving into my grandparents’ house, she discovered the letters mixed together in plastic bags, uncared for and amongst photographs of my papa in the RAF. We counted more than 300 letters just from my grandad.
“He had been sent to Canada at the age of 18 to train with the RAF in preparation for the Second World War, flying Spitfire planes, while my gran stayed in Aberdeen.”
After Trevor returned from Canada, the couple married in Aberdeen in 1948.
They moved to Callander, where they settled down to have their children Margaret, Valerie and David. Later, eight grandchildren followed.
The couple eventually moved to Strathaven and worked at the same school, Trevor as headmaster and Margaret as receptionist. She died in 1994 and Trevor 10 years later.
As part of her graduate degree show in 2014, Rebecca used the letters to create 14 bespoke pieces of jewellery, with each of the Darling Margaret brooches, necklaces and earrings featuring her grandad’s handwritten notes.