Devoted Northampton couple reunited with lost wedding photo from 1965 after it’s found in RSPCA shop

A devoted Northampton couple who lost their wedding photograph from 1965 have been reunited with it after it fell inside a book which they gave to charity.

John Lawes, aged 83, and wife Margaret, 80, feared the precious image of them standing by their chauffeur-driven car was gone for good when it vanished during a house move.

But the couple were stunned when a relative spotted the sepia picture on a Facebook appeal after it was found in an RSPCA shop three years later.

Their family say the snap, on a cardboard frame, must have slipped inside a book which John then unknowingly donated to the charity.

But the couple have now been reunited with the photograph just days before their 57th wedding anniversary, on August 5.

John and Margaret’s eldest daughter Esther Greenwood, 55, said: “It was amazing to see a photo of my mum and dad that I don't recall ever seeing before.

“Dad was always giving things to charities but even he has no idea how the photo ended up there.

“They look so dapper and so happy together.

“We think the picture somehow slipped inside the pages of a book and then dad must have taken it to the charity shop.

“They took a load of things to the charity shop when they moved into a bungalow three years ago so it must have been lost then.

“We found out the picture had been found when my aunt who was at the wedding saw it on Facebook.

“The RSPCA were appealing for people to come forward if they knew the couple so they could reunite them with it.

“After we claimed it the RSPCA posted it back to mum and dad and it’s arrived just in time for their anniversary which is lovely timing.”

The photo, taken after they tied the know at Queensgrove Methodist Church in Northampton, shows John and Margaret touching heads together — which their family say is a romantic gesture they still do today.

John, who was a teacher at the time, and Margaret, a nurse, went on to have four children and eight grandchildren.

They also travelled to Nigeria as missionaries at the height of the civil war in 1967 with John teaching at a school and Margaret working in a hospital.

The image turned up at the RSPCA's new Retro Rooms and Boutique shop on the corner of Silver Street and Burystead Place in Wellingborough town centre.

Assistant manager Viktoria Brice found it while sorting through donated items and posted the picture on Facebook.

She said: "In my heart I felt this photo shouldn't be in a charity shop, and I wondered if I could find the owners, and then the magic happened.

“Within a day it had been recognised.”

John said: “We can't thank Viktoria enough for finding our photograph.

“We're both thrilled to be reunited with the picture and it's lovely to reminisce about our very special day.”