• Shirley Blythe •

Birth Name: Shirley Blythe

Date of Birth: 1897 (inconsistent)

Birth Location: Ingleside, Prince Edward Island, Canada

Parents: Gilbert and Anne Blythe

Children: /

Siblings: Joyce 'Joy', James Matthew 'Jem', Anne 'Nan', Diana 'Di', Walter Cuthbert, Bertha Marilla 'Rilla'

Location: Ingleside

Hair colour: Brown

Eye colour: Brown

In Books: Anne of Ingleside (1939), Rainbow Valley (1919), Rilla of Ingleside (1920)

Quote: "Shirley is the apple of Susan's eye . . . I was ill so long after he was born and she looked after him till I really believe she thinks he is her own. She calls him her 'little brown boy' and spoils him shamefully." (Chapter 2, Anne of Ingleside (1939))

"Shirley was a lad of sixteen, sedate, sensible, thoughtful, full of a quiet humour. He was Susan's "little brown boy" yet, with his brown hair, brown eyes, and clear brown skin." (Chapter 3, Rilla of Ingleside (1920))

"So Shirley went--not radiantly, as to a high adventure, like Jem, not in a white flame of sacrifice, like Walter, but in a cool, business-like mood, as of one doing something, rather dirty and disagreeable, that had just got to be done. He kissed Susan for the first time since he was five years old, and said, "Good-bye, Susan--mother Susan." (Chapter 25, Rilla of Ingleside (1920))

"Our last son--our last son," [Gilbert] said aloud. "A good, sturdy, sensible lad, too. Always reminded me of my father". (Chapter 25, Rilla of Ingleside (1920))

Background: Shirley is the youngest son and second-last child of Anne and Gilbert. Shortly after he is born, Anne falls ill. Susan Baker takes Shirley to her brother's home for three months and "mothers" Shirley during this period while the other children stay in Avonlea. "I gave him life just as much as you did, Mrs. Dr. dear," Susan was wont to say, "[h]e is just as much my baby as he is yours." She is a special guardian of Shirley - "Mother Susan", kissing him for bumps, rocking him to sleep, protecting him from "well-deserved" spankings, and Shirley thinks of Susan as "one half angel and the other half good cook". Shirley attends Queen's Academy with Carl Meredith where he writes "coolly and matter-of-factly" about football, and is spoiled with his favourite dishes by Susan whenever he returns home on the weekends. He has a quiet demeanor and doesn't like to be "badgered with chatter", but he and Jem do affectionately tease slender Rilla with the nickname 'Spider'. When he is of age to enlist, he joins the flying corps with a "got-to" attitude, much to the nervousness of Susan and his parents, whose two other sons have already gone and one who would not return. Nonetheless, he trains in an aviation camp in Kingsport, Nova Scotia, and maintains letter correspondence with the remaining family members at Ingleside. He is to return home in July, and is expected to return to college along with Jem, Jerry and Carl.

Last updated: May 1, 2008
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