As we approach Valentine's Day, we are celebrating the love stories that started right here at Lincoln!
For some, it was love at first sight in freshers' week, but for others it took a chance meeting years after leaving Lincoln. Take a look below at the love stories submitted by our alumni.
Tony Cocker (1978) and Madeleine Parker (1979)
By Madeleine Parker: "Tony (Anthony David Cocker 1978) and I (Madeleine Margaret Christine Parker 1979) met at Lincoln when I came up in October 1979. He was studying Maths and I was doing French and Latin (Classics and Modern Languages). We started dating in 1982 in my third year and Tony’s first year of his D.Phil. We have been together ever since, married in 1991 in Lincoln College Chapel and have two children in their early twenties. Tony is still working and I am busy with various volunteering roles.
"The first photo is of us at the Lincoln Ball in 1982, and the second a more recent one of us at the door of Lincoln Chapel on our wedding anniversary."
Simon Oxley (1978) and Hilary Moakes (1981)
By Simon Oxley: "We met in the JCR at the college ‘freshers’ fair’ when Simon (Chemistry, 1978) was recruiting members for the Lincoln College Mountaineering Club and Hilary (Medicine, 1981) was a prospective climber. LCMC was very active in those days and we did lots of trips together and with other college members. We eventually ascended to a wedding in college in 1989 followed by a honeymoon climbing Kilimanjaro (ok, there was quite a bit of beach-sitting too). After a period working in London we have been living in Settle in the Yorkshire Dales since 1991. Hilary has had an ok career as a GP and Simon in various cybersecurity things. We have three children and are now (mostly) retired and still enjoying the mountains.
"The first photo is at the start of a cycling trip to Ireland from Marston Street in 1983 and the second a recent one (2024 outside the Lowry Theatre, Manchester)".
Dinah Jayson née Lack (1981) & Gordon Jayson (1982)
By Gordon Jayson: "We met in freshers’ week at Lincoln in 1982. We were both medical students and we had our first meeting to hand over notes from the second to first year medical students. We started going out together as we both enjoyed playing the piano, we played the piano that was in the Oakeshott room (off the old library corridor). There should be a chair in that room with a plaque on the back that says “Dinah and Gordon played Nocturnes here in 1982”. We then married in 1984. We celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary last year (2024) and are now grandparents. I am a Professor of Medical Oncology and Dinah was a consultant Child Psychiatrist in Manchester.
"The photo shows us from around 1982-84 standing next to us from a few years ago."
Edwin Thomas (1995) and Emma Hayiou Thomas née Hayios (1995)
By Edwin Thomas: "She came from Greece, she had a thirst for knowledge…
October, 1995. Pulp were in the charts, and Emma Hayios came from Athens to study PPP at Lincoln College.
That’s where I caught her eye.
Anxious freshers circulated in the Lower Lecture Room gripping acid-blue drinks. Basic talking points: hometown, A-levels, subject… move on. Then Emma and I got chatting, and suddenly we had everything to say to each other. Freshers’ Cocktails ended, but we kept talking all through the night, until the sun came up over the quad next morning.
A lot of things began that evening. Also in the room were Emma’s future bridesmaid, and two future godparents to our children. Emma’s degree led to a DPhil, and then a career in the Psychology Department at the University of York. After my History degree I became a historical novelist. We married in 2000, in Lincoln chapel, and now have two sons thinking about their own university paths.
And after nearly thirty years, we still haven’t run out of conversation."
Adam Rachlin (2010) and Daisy Rachlin (2010)
By Daisy Rachlin: "My husband Adam (Rachlin) and I met on our second day at Lincoln - we both lived on the top floor of staircase 13. We matriculated in 2010, but didn’t start going out until 2014. We got married at Lincoln Chapel in 2019 and had our wedding reception at Divinity School. We will be celebrating our 6-year anniversary this March, and now have a 3-year old daughter, Talia!
"The first photo is from Matriculation, and all of the other boys in this photo were invited to our wedding. The second photo is by the same archway, from our Wedding Day!"