The Errol Flynn Blog

Who on Earth was “Chancellor”, aka Mrs. Errol Flynn?

I have recently come across three Mormon “proxy marriage sealings” involving Errol – one to “Lili”, one to “Nora”, and one to “Chancellor”. Yes, that’s correct, “Chancellor”!!!

Who, you may ask, was Chancellor? The answer is simple: I have no idea!

According to official Mormon records of proxy marriage sealings (aka “celestial marriage”):

“Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (Errol Flynn), was born in Hobart, Tasmania. He was sealed to an ex-wife, Liliane Marie-Madeleine Carré (Lili Damita) on October 3, 1996 in the Manti Utah Temple. On November 3, 2000 in the Albuquerque New Mexico Temple, Flynn was sealed to an unknown spouse named “Chancellor”. Flynn was sealed to another ex-wife, Nora Eddington, on September 18, 2009 in the Boise Idaho Temple.”

So, it appears, according to official records of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints, Errol and Chancellor were sealed in eternal proxy marriage on November 3, 2000, at the Mormon Temple in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

…But why? And to whom?

Perhaps “Chancellor” could be a reference to Pat Wymore? Or, perhaps it could be a woman who had a child with Errol, perhaps the mother of James, or Shirley’s girl (Marilyn/Lynn)? “Following a celestial marriage, not only are the couple sealed as husband and wife, but children born into the marriage are also sealed to that family.”

Here’s a summary of the Mormons’ instructions/guidelines for “proxy marriage sealings”:

“The LDS Church has issued specific instructions to Church members regarding proxy marriage sealings. These guidelines state that only dead couples, who had established relationships while they were living, are to be sealed as spouses in Mormon temples.”

“A deceased man may have sealed to him all deceased women to whom he was legally married during his life. A deceased woman may be sealed to all men to whom she was legally married during her life. However, if she was sealed to a husband during her life, all her husbands must be deceased before she may be sealed to a husband to whom she was not sealed to during life. Deceased couples who were divorced may be sealed. This may provide the only way for their children to be sealed…A deceased couple who lived together as husband and wife may be sealed, even if the marriage cannot be documented.”

A description by a former performer of celestial marriage ceremonies:

“MUCH SECRECY SURROUNDS THE SACRAMENTS THAT take place in the temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For Mormons—whose numbers can be difficult to quantify—the temple is the center of family and community life. It is also where ”eternal marriages” take place.”

“Known within the Church as “sealing,” eternal marriages bind a couple together forever. As in, forever—beyond mortality. In fact, sealings can be performed on people who have already died, to ensure they are eligible for entry into the highest echelons of Mormon heaven. Posthumous sealing—in which a deceased person is wedded to either another deceased person or one who is still alive—is performed regularly within the Church, but the details of the ceremony are not usually disclosed to people outside the faith.”

“Mormons believe there’s various degrees of heaven. In order to gain entrance to the highest one, where you get to be a god and create your own worlds, you have to have received certain ordinances. They call them “keys.” And one of those is being married. So people who have died and never had the chance to get sealed—that’s what Mormons call getting married in the temple—can have it posthumously done for them. And that’s the point of going to the temple and doing sealings.”

“Faithful Latter Day Saints believe civil marriages are dissolved at death, but that a couple who has been sealed in a temple will be married beyond physical death and the resurrection if they remain faithful. This means that in the afterlife they and their family will be together forever. An illustrative difference in the marriage ceremony performed in LDS temples is the replacement of the words “until death do us part” with “for time and all eternity”.”

Any ideas or input, Flynnmates!?

— Tim