The couple who are third in their family to be married for 50 years

Southampton born and bred couple, Maxine and Roger Harris, 69 and 73 respectively, are celebrating their golden wedding anniversary today (July 13).

Incredibly, Maxine’s parents and grandparents both also reached the five-decade milestone and also featured in the Echo.

Maxine's parents Percy and Lillie Redfern and grandparents Bill and Bessie Crane were also featured in the Echo for their golden weddings.

Maxine and Roger on their wedding day (Image: Submitted) The pair have two children and four grandchildren and said that being featured in the paper was like ‘coming full circle’ for the family.

Roger from Millbrook and Maxine from Shirley both attended Shirley Infant School on Wilton Road, where Maxine used to live just two doors down.

Maxine said: “We were in the same playground but didn’t meet properly until years later – when I was 17 and worked at the Oasis Club on St Mary Street.

“I was running up and down the stairs during the bingo and Roger approached me.”

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Roger said: “My mate said to me ‘you will never get her number’ so I told him we aren’t leaving until I’ve got it. I asked her out and she said ‘maybe’.

“I went up to her again and she said if you can remember this number ring me up. I still remember the number to this day: 23632.”

On their first date to The White Swan pub in Mansbridge, and after riding in style in Roger's Cortina, the pair got to the bar where Roger realised he had left his wallet at home.

Maxine said: “I said to him l'll pay for this drink, but then we are going back to get your wallet.

"I thought I have chosen a right one here, but 50 years later and we are still so happy.”

The couple had vastly different careers, with Roger working as a welder then getting a job at the docks for more than 40 years and Maxine working as a secretary for Southampton FC, a nurse, an accountant and even a two-year stint at the Echo in its advertising department.

The pair are both life-long Saints fans and enjoy taking their grandchildren Oliver, Matthew, Ruby and Bella to watch the team play.

When asked what is the secret to half a century together, Maxine said: “Love and laughter – we laugh just as we did when we first met as we do today.

Roger added: “We aren’t just a couple – we are best friends. We are so similar and know each other so well that we often know what the other is going to say.”