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Dorothea (Donna) Frances Rosedale and Gerald Gardner married in the 16th of August, 1927. She was related to Gerald’s sister-in-law. As far as Gardnerian lore goes, she’s a shadowy figure, and most people assume she wasn’t around Gerald for his circle activities. She is mentioned by Bracelin and Heselton, within academic studies, but she also is referenced by Lois Bourne.

Gerald himself has been much maligned, probably to the same level as Aleister Crowley. A large part of that is due to the sensationalist press of the era, but even in modern times, Gerald has had to suffer from the slings and arrows of the rumor mill both inside and outside of The Craft. It’s really not hard to see why Donna would have said “to hell with it” and chosen to remain relatively unknown. Most of the rumors, these days, are dismissed easily with some cursory academic research, even from the outside.

Donna was actually active in Geralds life, and was responsible for keeping his immediate family together. In 1935 Gerald’s father passed away and left them £3,000 (£272,972 today), and it was Donna who insisted they return to England after an extended stay in Malaysia. She then rented the original flat at 26 Charing Cross Road. We really don’t hear much about her until 1960 when she dies, but Geralds health suffers greatly when she passes.

Lois Bourne helps us place her around further adventures in Gerald’s life. The grain-of-salt warning about Bourne is that she wrote her books in 1979 (A Witch Amongst Us), 1989 (Conversations with a Witch), and 1998 (Dancing with Witches). Gerald died in 1964. That places Dancing with the Witches, the book where she most discusses Gardner, 34 years after he passes. I was lucky enough to get all three books for under $100, but they should be read as personal remembrances rather than a study of Gerald Gardner. They are quite good through that lens, even if they don’t quite line up with Bracelin and Heselton.

Inside of Dancing with the Witches, she includes two photographs. One she attributed to Donna, and one seems to imply that Donna was the photographer.

“A happy picture of me with a sprightly looking Gerald Gardner, photographed by Donna, Gerald’s wife, in the tiny garden behind their cottage in Malew Street, Castletown, Isle of Man. Gerald had a workshop above the cottage where he made magical implements and Donna had to call him to tea in the garden. Summer, 1958” (Lois Borne, Dancing with Witches)

Sadly that places the photograph two years before Donna dies, and 6 years before Gerald’s passing. However this also shows us that Donna lives with Gerald, and she is comfortable with his Craft activities. She knows about the workshop and what he’s doing and she is present in his life. This also means that she knows who he is associating with, and what he’s doing with those folks. It really wouldn’t be a leap to say that Donna is very likely participating in the Craft activities, because she has put the effort into caring for her husband.

“Arriving at Douglas Airport, Isle of Man, June 1959, to spend a few days with Gerland and Donna. I was always greeted at the airport by Gerald, who would be jumping around in excitement. He loved to have visitors as I think he found life on the island rather dull at times.” (Lois Bourne, Dancing with Witches)

Again, we have a Gerland Gardner with his wife Donna, who seems to the be the photographer, with Gerald being just out of frame. Lois then says that they were excited to receive her as a guest, and as a witch, Lois would have circled with Gerald. My completely unsubstantiated speculation is that if Donna is this active in the guest activities and the reception, she is probably also active in the circle.

Now for the bit that requires the suspension of disbelief, there are two more photos where we can confidently say that Lois Bourne did not take them, nor did any of Gerald’s well known associates. Given that both him and Donna enjoyed hosting, and that people seemed to want to be seen with Gerald, and that none of the guests are probably going to be imposed upon to take the pictures, we can speculate that they were also taken by Donna. I have reproduced them here with Lois’s captioning.

“Gillian and Freddie Lamond, Lois, and Jack Bracelin inside the witch’s cottage at Bricket Wood in 1959. On the floor in front of my left foot is a candle remaining from a witchcraft ceremony.” (Lois Bourne, Dancing with Witches)

Who took the photograph? Here is a hint: Gillian and Freddie Lamond are mentioned prominently, as is Lois, and Lois is careful to point out the origins of the candle. She gives us the context that this is a witchcraft ceremony candle, not simply some museum piece or a carelessly left fire hazard.

In 1959, Lamond met his future wife, Gillian, and they moved into a flat together in September of that year. In August 1960 they married, and a party was held by coven member Jack Bracelin at Fiveacres nudist club, where the marriage was blessed by Lois Bourne, the coven’s High Priestess. The historian Ronald Hutton remarked that this was the first known example of a Wiccan marriage ceremony.

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederic_Lamond_(Wiccan)

In my opinion Donna is the photographer, wanting to capture the soon to be married couple as they guested with them.

“Coven members outside of the witch’s cottage, Bricket Wood, 1959. Left to right: Jack Bracelin, who managed the Bricket Wood club and was coven leader; Freddie Lamond; Lois; and Gillian Lamond who had beautiful titian-coloured hair and a lovely sense of humour.” (Lois Bourne, Dancing with Witches)

Again: Who took the photograph? It very much seems that the photos were taken close to the same time given the date of 1959, but also the clothes haven’t changed at all. It follows that whoever took the first photo also intentionally did not appear in the second photo, and so it is probably someone familiar to the set. While true that Gerald himself doesn’t appear in either photo, it could also easily have been his wife, Donna. The lamp in the bottom left implies an eye for composition, which could imply that Gerland is the photographer as he would have developed that sense from his photography of religious artifacts. We’ll never know!