Mary Louise Browne was born at home in Sandbanks on March 4, 1929. Her father, Arthur Russell Browne, was in the Canadian Air Force.

During the 1914-18 war he came to England and was billeted at the Royal Bath Hotel as a serving member of the Canadian Air Force. Whilst there, he met Helen Andrews and was so struck by her beauty that he returned to England as soon as he could after the war, to marry her in 1928.

At that time property in Sandbanks was very cheap so Helen and Arthur bought a bungalow virtually on the beach, where both Mary and her younger sister Rosemary were born. Mum Helen was quite an entrepreneur and in her early 30’s she borrowed money to buy two plots of land in Sandbanks, where she built two bungalows. She then went on to build and redevelop many more properties in the Sandbanks area, including the big house next to the ferry and built two bungalows with water frontage in the grounds. As a point of interest, John Lennon bought one of Helen’s bungalows for his aunt Mimi.

Boats always played a very large part in Mary’s life – she had her own boat from the age of 4; she and her sister would sail all over Poole harbour, sailing and fishing throughout the war years. After attending the Dorchester School in Parkstone, at the age of 12 Mary was evacuated to a large girls’ boarding school in Staffordshire. Here her love of all sports kept her going – tennis, cricket, lacrosse and particularly hockey.

Sandbanks was under the flight path favoured by the Germans and the Browne family would take refuge every night in the Morrisson shelter. It was learned that the Germans planned an air-raid on Poole and the ships moored in Poole Harbour. So a plan was hatched to mislead them – a huge fire was started in the middle of the then privately-owned Brownsea Island; this, of course, destroyed the greenhouses and all plant life, but Poole Harbour and the ships were saved. Fire engines from Poole had to be brought over by barges.

After the war ended Mary trained at Eastbourne Secretarial College, bfore starting a job in London. On one occasion her lift home to Sandbanks was shared by Peter Stebbing; (his great-grandfather was Sir Merton Russell-Cotes and his aunt owned the Royal Bath Hotel). They fell in love and married in 1951, although in hindsight Mary believes they were much too young.

They lived in London for a while, then moved to Ham, by the river near Kingston-on-Thames, where their daughters Nicola and Ann Louise were born. Peter was training as a horologist, looking after the clocks at Buckingham Palace and many other prestigious buildings.

In the 1950s Mary’s sister Rosemary moved to South Africa for her husband‘s work. Mum Helen went to visit them, her first ever time abroad; and took her experience in building new properties with her – she built a beautiful house overlooking the sea at Camps’ Bay. Peter, Mary and their children went to visit her in 1958; Peter could only stay for one month, but Mary and the girls stayed for three months!

In the early ‘60’s they moved to Compton Avenue, Poole; Peter bought a shop in Post Office Road and set up an antiques business, where Mary helped; several years later he opened a tiny sandwich shop next door. From the ages of 4 and 6 the girls attended St Monica’s School in Upton, Poole and from the age of 11 Wentworth School, Boscombe; Nicola went on to the sixth form at Canford to study in the language laboratory. Mary and Peter loved living by the water and took advantage of it, swimming and water-skiing in the sea and even using the ski-jump behind Brownsea Island – although Mary admits that she was so terrified by it that she only did it once!

Unfortunately, in about 1980 Peter and Mary’s marriage broke down and the second half of her life began. Mary moved to a smaller house in Lilliput, with lovely neighbours, including several old friends.

One Christmas in the early 80’s Mary attended a bridge weekend at Steeple Aston, near Oxford, run by her good friend Betty Elson. There were many players and too few helpers, so Mary and her friend Roy volunteered to help. Many more bridge weekends, under the auspices of Mr Bridge followed; and then bridge cruises. Mary’s suitcase was always packed and ready to go at a moment’s notice. She cruised all over the world for several years, enjoying not only the bridge tournaments, but also the free accommodation and meals, excursions, cocktail parties etc. She visited wonderful destinations meeting many interesting people, including Peter O’Toole, Robert Powell and Bernard Ingham (Mrs. Thatcher’s personal secretary).

Around 1985 a good friend, Len, retired and organised lengthy sailing trips to different parts of the world on his 60ft yacht, which Mary loved. They went to the most wonderful destinations – Easter Island, Pitcairn, Tahiti, Iceland and Greenland and many other exotic places; her favourite trip was the two months they spent sailing round the Greek Islands. She had to take one year out, moving in to care for her mother, but resumed cruising when her sister visited from South Africa.

Family has always been important to Mary – she is very proud of her family – her two daughters look out for her beyond the call of duty and she greatly enjoys the company of her two grandchildren, James and Holly and James’ two babies.

So what brought Mary to the relative tranquillity of Melton Court after such exciting years? She knew it was time to move home; she had visited at least 20 friends from the Golf Club who had lived here since about 2000. They were all very happy, so it was the obvious place for Mary to choose as her next home.

Since coming here Mary has been involved in setting up a fortnightly bridge group, along with Daphne Phillips and Eddie Bathgate. She enjoys the lunches, walking around the grounds and socialising with her many friends, both old and new. She says there is nothing at Melton that she doesn’t enjoy – she says “What’s not to like?”

Helena Greene