Madeline Gosling Haddow

Madeline Gosling Haddow (1905-1996) was born and grew up in Newport, Rhode Island, in the shadow of the Gilded Age “cottages” of the obscenely wealthy Vanderbilts, Astors, and others. She was the oldest of four siblings in a family that, while nowhere near as wealthy as their seasonal neighbors, lived comfortably. Somewhat unusually for the time, her parents divorced when she was a teenager and her beloved father left the family, eventually moving to Missouri. After graduating from high school, Madeline attended the Katherine Gibbs School. She went on to work as a secretary for most of her adult life in various educational and business institutions.

In 1932, Madeline married James Haddow, a recent immigrant from England and a draftsman at Bethlehem Steel Company. The couple settled in Quincy, Massachusetts where, two years later, their only child – a son named James Edward Haddow – was born. Both Madeline and James worked hard to provide their son with the best possible education, and he attended Roxbury Latin School, Harvard, and Tufts Medical School. Madeline retired from her secretarial work in 1970. Madeline was extremely intelligent and an excellent writer as well as a talented cook. She was a self-contained person, not given to displays or words of affection even within the family, but she clearly loved her son and took great pride in his accomplishments.

• Honored by Anne Cressey