What Are The Origins Of Mother's Day?

There are several accounts of the origins of Mother's Day in the U.S.A., but what I can be sure of, and what I am about to recount to you, is the origin of Mother's Day in my home country, dear old England.

Mother's Day in England was founded by my great grandfather, John Alexander Whitehead.   You may be as surprised as I was when I discovered this during some research into Whitehead Aircraft, the aircraft company that was founded by my great grandfather during WWI.  As an aviation enthusiast, I had always been excited about the fact that my great grandfather's factory had built many of the Sopwith Pups that were used in battle during WWI.  

About 20 years ago, my research unearthed a newspaper article from 1916, clearly outlining the origin of Mother's Day and how John Alexander Whitehead wanted to, first of all, honor his own mother, and recognized the need to honor the mothers of soldiers and sailors who were away from home, serving their country in what was to become known as the Great War. 

So, on the very first Mother's Day in England, held on Tuesday, August 8th, 1916, while sons were unable to be with their mothers, Mr. & Mrs. Whitehead 'adopted' a few hundred mothers and entertained them all with a fantastic lunch and wowed the crowd with an aerobatic display overhead.  August 8th was chosen as it was the birthday of my great grandfather, a flamboyant character to say the least, who would have enjoyed such a huge celebration on his birthday, even though it was for the moms!  On a side note, my father, also John Alexander Whitehead, was fittingly named after his grandfather as they shared the same birthday.

The Mother's Day article from 1916 has been reproduced on the Whitehead Aircraft website, along with another piece on the subject, and photographs from the 1917 Mother's Day outings.

Now that I have shared this little piece of Mother's Day history with you, and I prepare to retire for the evening before waking to a wonderful mother's day of my own, I would like to wish all moms a very happy and blessed Mother's Day!

In Him,

Lynda