84 1GM Saturday November 14 2020 | the times
Readers’ Lives
The perfect gift
for new parents
‘She has her father’s eyes
and face shape but her
mother’s lips and nose’
Celebrate the arrival of
a newborn in Readers’
Lives, a service in
contracted tributesCall 020 7782 5583 or email
[email protected]50%
discount for
subscribersPIPPA SUZANNE DRACOTT WAS BORN ON MAY 28, 2020,
AT BROOMFIELD HOSPITAL IN CHELMSFORD, ESSEX,
TO CLAIRE, 30, AND GARY DRACOTT, 30for his blessing and waited for the
right moment.
They were on a clifftop walk at Las
Puertas del Cielo (the Gates of
Heaven), in the north of the island,
when Tom got down on one knee and
rummaged through his camera bag
while saying “lovely things”. Anna,
who had been dropping marriage
hints for some time, suspected what
was coming next and started sobbing.
“Tom is the most wonderful man I
know,” she says. “He’s so kind and he
makes me laugh every single day. The
drive and passion he has for his workIf you would like to feature a
wedding or engagement or the
birth of a child on these pages, call
020 7782 5583, Mon-Fri, to discuss
the content and cost, or email:
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thetimes.co.uk/static/terms-and-conditionsBefore Anna and Tom met in person,
they had communicated only by text.
She googled his name and was
interested to discover that he had his
own perfume brand, Tom Daxon. He
liked her photograph but was
underwhelmed by her messages
which he thought were a bit bland.
Tom had approached Anna via a
dating app and their first date was at a
pub near his flat in Notting Hill. It
turned out to be quiz night, which
was not ideal as they tried to join in
and get to know one another at the
same time, but they hit it off. “I was
massively pleasantly surprised,” he
says. “She is really funny in person,
but a really dry texter.”
Anna was frustrated when Tom
played it cool and did not contact her
the next day. She messaged him and
their second date was a few days later
at a curry house near his flat. A few
months into their relationship in 2015,
she accompanied him on a business
trip to Milan. “Every day that we were
free, we were together,” she says.
London-born Anna was then living
by herself in Shepherd’s Bush. She
studied illustration at Middlesex
University and works as a producer
for an agency in the beauty and
fashion industry, collaborating
with photographers, including
Juergen Teller.
Tom grew up in Buckinghamshire
and has a degree in history and
politics from Nottingham University.
His mother, Dale, was creative
director of the
British beauty brand
Molton Brown. In
2014 he launched his
eponymous perfume
brand at Liberty
department store in
London. During
lockdown he
launched Gloved, a
luxury handcare
brand with a
cedarwood scent.
Anna is a fan of Tom
Daxon (the fragrance).
If she happens to wear
another scent, Tom
will pick up on it.
In 2017 she moved
into his flat. He is the cook. They are
both sociable and “quite relaxed”,
although Anna admits to being
stubborn. Anna’s Spanish mother is
from Ibiza where the family has a
Marriages and engagements
‘I couldn’t imagine my life without her’
never cease to amaze me and I never
had a doubt he was the person I
wanted to spend my life with.”
They considered marrying abroad
— Tuscany, Ibiza or Mallorca — but
were put off by the logistics. “Neither
of us likes being the centre of
attention,” says Anna, who opted to
keep it simple. They changed their
focus to the Cotswolds and fell for the
modest grandeur of Barnsley House,
a 17th-century farmhouse turned
luxury hotel.
Invitations went out to 100 guests
for a ceremony in the garden followed
by a reception in a marquee on July- By May they had cancelled their
reception because of the coronavirus
outbreak, but decided to keep the date
for the ceremony. “We were grieving
the loss of the wedding that we had
initially planned,” says Anna. “There
were a few tears.”
When weddings were later allowed
for up to 30 people, Anna and Tom
decided to go ahead rather than
“postpone the worry”. They had a
month to reinvent their day. They
could no longer have exclusive use of
the hotel or use the marquee. The
honeymoon suite had been booked.
“We still wanted to have amazing
flowers,” says Anna. Studio Sorores,
an events company, created white and
green arrangements.
The 4pm ceremony was held in a
temple in the hotel garden created by
the garden designer Rosemary Verey,
a former owner of Barnsley House.
The sun was shining and a string trio
played Des’ree’s I’m Kissing You as
Anna walked up the aisle on the arm
of her father. She was delighted to
notice Tom crying, which is
uncharacteristic.
Both sets of parents met for the
first time at the wedding. After
champagne and canapés, immediate
family stayed for a meal outside,
surrounded by flowers. “I wish
that more people had been there to
share it,” says Tom, who is looking
forward to celebrating with friends
next year.
“I married Anna because I couldn’t
imagine my life without her,” he says.
Their guests had left by 9pm. “It was
so dreamy,” she says. “It was as close
to eloping as we could get, which I
was really quite happy with.”
house. Tom proposed on his first visit
to the island in 2018. His mother had
helped to choose an engagement ring,
which he hid in the bottom of his
camera bag. He asked Anna’s fatherTom and Anna had one month to
reinvent their wedding day. Their
ceremony was held in a temple in the
garden at Barnsley House, followed
by a meal outside with their familiesNew readers
Evie’s nickname
is Little Miss
Fomo (Fear of
Missing Out).
“She is very alert
and likes to
be part of
everything,” says
Shelley, who
discovered at her
20-week scan that she was having a
girl. Two days later she and Nick had
chosen the name Evie. “We both
really wanted a girl. After we found
out we each drew up a shortlist of five
names — Evie was on both of ours.”
Since Evie arrived, weighing exactly
6lb, she has spent lots of time in the
garden, on walks and in the pool now
that she has started swimming
lessons. Nick, an avid cyclist, can’t
wait to teach her how to ride a bike.
“She’s got strong legs so it’s looking
promising.”
The two family cats, Otto and
Willow, have so far shown “a little bit
of interest in her”.Finley looks so
much like his
father that Will
thinks it’s as
though his
face has been
superimposed
on a baby.
“Everyone who
sees him says he
is exactly like me — not even me
when I was baby, but me as an adult.”
While Finley has his father’s face, he
has “his mother’s good grace and
humour”, says Will, who can already
see that his son has a cheeky side.
“He’s a very happy baby and we’re
getting those first mischievous smiles
coming out now.” Will jokes that his
heart is set on one of three possible
careers for Finley: “Footballer (for
QPR, of course), chef or pianist, but
that is entirely my view. Fran would
just want him to be happy.” Or
perhaps he’ll follow an artistic path
like his grandfather, the Times
cartoonist Peter Brookes? Fran’s
father is also called Peter; Finley’s
middle name was an obvious choice.Anna Gibson, 32, a beauty producer,
and Tom Daxon Bowers, 32, a
perfumer, were married on July 30,
2020, at Barnsley House, near
Cirencester, in the Cotswolds
Finley Peter Brookes was born on
September 4, 2020, at King’s College
Hospital in London to Francesca, 31,
and Will Brookes, 35Evie Isabella Cammell was born on
June 22, 2020, at Stoke Mandeville
Hospital, Aylesbury, to Shelley
Jackman, 41, and Nick Cammell, 46BEN QUINTONkTheyarew
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