Aileen and Bill Turnbill were 20 years old when they married on a beautiful Spring day in Scotland in 1967. A friend shot an 8mm video of them leaving the Church hugging their family and friends. Before leaving on their honeymoon they borrowed a projector and watched it. They left the footage in the projector went on their honeymoon and shortly thereafter moved to Australia.
Aileen was recently scrolling Facebook when she saw something that shocked her. It was her on her wedding day. "I studied the picture for minute then turned to Bill and said 'There’s our wedding photograph'. Bill asked to see it and he got kind of emotional as he saw his mom and dad and even his grandparents who have been dead for years. Then he asked why it's on someone else's Facebook page. I said I had no idea"!
Terry Cheyne is the nephew of the man who had shot the footage. He was transferring his Uncle's old reels to digital. When he saw this wedding footage. was a mysterious unknown film to me. It was clearly a wedding, in Mastrick Church. I watched it many times, I didn’t know anybody. I thought it would be great to track down the couple if they were still alive and get it to them. He started posting it on social media and asking if anyone knew who they were.
Sure enough some folks recognized Bill and Aileen. But they hadn't seen them in decades! Weeks of investigating led to some folks who thought they remembered they moved to Australia. Terry found a Facebook group for Scottish citizens living in Australia. He was able to get accepted into the group and then posted a still shot of the wedding asking if anyone recognized the couple. Aileen was a member in that group and just luckily scrolled upon the picture.
After contacting Terry he sent Aileen and Bill a copy of the video. Aileen says "It just seems so strange for me to see my mother and my father, not just in a photograph but they’re actually moving and walking. I've never seen a video of them before and likely this is the only footage ever filmed of them"!