Board Thread:Discuss: Adaptations/@comment-4934571-20170901194424

Hi! I was looking for some screepcaps of the CBC characters and I remembered the scene in the second episode where Anne becomes a member of the Cuthbert family and signs her name into the family Bible. I was curious about the universe timeline and thought I might find some clues here as well.

(The most important clue is John Blythe's tombstone in episode 6. I've spent quite some time trying to edit the screencap as the year of his death – and also the year Season 1 takes place in – was not clear. It looked both like 1886 and 1896, but after short analysis I came to a conclusion that he died in 1896. Miranda de Pencier supports it in one interview, where she mentions that the series is set in the 1890s.)

Today I found a screencap of the Cuthbert family Bible which features the birth dates of several family members as well as the ancestry of Marilla and Matthew. However, not everything is perfectly clear to me, that's why I need your help.



Enoch Cuthbert ... Born November 20, 1769

Mabel Cuthbert (née Ennis) ... Married June 3, 1790

Nathaniel Cuthbert ... Born October 25, 1794

?? Cuthbert (née Mulholland)

Matthew Wilfred Cuthbert ... Born March 11, 1813

Constance Cuthbert ... Married April 16, 1812

Michael Cuthbert ... Born September 13, 1833

Marilla Cuthbert ... Born December 29, 1836

Matthew Cuthbert ... Born June 15, 1841

We know that Michael is Marilla and Matthew's older brother. Marilla is older than Matthew in this adaptation and also one year younger than John Blythe (according to his tombstone, he was born in 1835). Matthew Wilfred appears to be their father (being 20 years old when Michael was born). Nathaniel could have been his father (Marilla and Matthew's grandfather). Enoch Cuthbert (born in 1769) and Mabel Ennis (birth year unknown) got married in 1790, Nathaniel appears to be their son as he was born in 1794, four years after their wedding.

But what about Constance and Miss Mulholland (I really cannot figure out her first name)? Constance appears to be Matthew Wilfred's wife (and the mother of Michael, Marilla and Matthew.) However, the date of their marriage (1812) just seems to be wrong. She couldn't have married Matthew Wilfred a year before his birth. I believe that the prop makers misplaced the date and the 1812 wedding should've been above, next to Miss Mulholland's name. (She most likely was Nathaniel's wife and Matthew Wilfred's mother.) It is also weird that Constance doesn't have her maiden name mentioned in her entry.

Who is Constance? Could she truly be Matthew and Marilla's mother? What about the 1812 wedding? What is Miss Mulholland's first name? Can you think of any other explanation of this family tree? 