Born Too Late

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Paternal Grandfather and Grandson

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Here are two portraits from the Wilde family album: one of Oscar’s son Vyvyan Holland (left), and one of Oscar’s father, Sir William Wilde.

I showcase these particular images because they are less commonly seen; indeed most featured pictures of Sir William are of him in his more senior years.

Moreover, the photographs are worth while juxtaposing as they were evidently taken when the two young men were about the same age, thus allowing us to evaluate how much of a chip there was off the old block. No doubt a family resemblance can be seen.

It is not often noted, however, that any family resemblance in the Wilde/Holland descendancy always had to be made like this—i.e. in retrospect—because no one in the line lived at the same time as their paternal grandfather.

This poignant idiosyncrasy goes back three generations to Oscar, and at least two further generations beyond, as follows;

—Lucian Holland (Merlin’s son) was born 12 years too late to meet his paternal grandfather, Vyvyan Holland;

—Merlin Holland, Oscar’s only grandson, was born several decades after Oscar died in 1900;

—Merlin’s father, Vyvyan, (and his brother Cyril) were born a decade or so too late for their paternal grandfather: Sir William Wilde (1815-1876);

—Oscar himself was born 16 years too late for see his paternal grandfather: Thomas Wilde (1760-1838).

—and as for Oscar father, Sir William: records for his grandfather (Ralph Wilde) are lost in the mists of the mid-1700s, although an overlap seems unlikely given that his own father was 55 years old when Sir William was born in 1815.

© John Cooper, 2023.

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