By Paul Byrne & Helen Le Caplain
Two generations of a family fell in love and got hitched after meeting at the same university.
Ian and Tania Williams met in 1985 when they were both students. And Cupid's arrow struck again for their daughter Gemma Malone when she met husband Tom at the same seat of learning.
The young couple, both 29, have now tied the knot, 34 years after Gemma’s parents said “I do”. Tania, now 56, read modern Dutch studies when she went to the University of Hull in 1985, where she met physics student Ian, 58.
She said: "I quite liked his sense of humour. He was quite obviously a single man, he was quite boisterous. I said to my roommate 'I can tame him’."
The pair started dating, got engaged three years later and walked down the aisle in 1989. Now their daughter Gemma, from Mold, North Wales, has followed in their romantic footsteps.
Gemma said: "We were looking at courses online. I liked America so found American studies and Hull was one of the ones that did it. It was just a coincidence that my mum and dad went there. My parents never really thought that I would find love in Hull. They thought it would be fun. They just wanted me to have a good time.”
She fell for Tom after meeting him at their halls of residence in the East Yorkshire city in 2013. Gemma, a supermarket supply planner, said: ”We met on the first day in the kitchens. All the hall had gone out for a night out. I don't drink so I couldn't pluck up the courage to go out.
"He was nursing a very bad hangover, it was a friendship at first that developed into romance.”
Gemma and Tom got engaged in 2021 and were married at Ruthin Castle in Denbighshire, North Wales, last October. Tom, an IT consultant, originally from the US, said: "It's funny how life repeats itself and it means a great deal to her. She's very family-oriented and it was a fairly big deal and something she's intensely proud of.
"It's something that she celebrates, that we're going down the same route as her parents.”
Tania, an immunisation nurse from Sychdyn, near Mold, said: "We could never have imagined Gemma meeting her future husband there and history repeating itself. It's like something out of a film. Hull has a special place in our hearts.”
Senior SCADA engineer Ian said: "We've been married 34 years. We've had a very happy marriage.”
A University of Hull spokesman said: "We are always delighted to hear about couples like Gemma and Tom and Gemma's parents Tania and Ian, who met on campus and for whom Hull has played such an important part in shaping their future together.
"Whether our students meet in Freshers' Week or just before finals, in student accommodation or in the Students' Union, it's great when they share their story and the fond memories they have of Hull and the University.
"The city and campus have a special place in the hearts of our graduates, and it's wonderful in this case, that this has been passed on to the next generation."
