Have you ever thought of murdering your sibling after an argument? Or does that seem a bit too extreme? Perhaps too understandable? Sisters! There is no greater bond like that of sisters, and even more so if they are twin sisters. Twins are fascinating, and the Gibbons twins, Jennifer and June, were no exception. The Gibbons twins’ closeness and companionship was startling to say the least, but their gift of having each other eventually turned into a curse.
Jennifer and June Gibbons were born on April 11, 1963, in Barbados, to Gloria and Aubrey Gibbons, and they grew up in Havenfordwest, Wales.1 Like most twins, the girls shared a tight bond; but their bond was even stronger than most. They only spoke to each other, using the few words that they knew. This characteristic of their relationship is what gave them the label Silent Twins. In their small town, they were the only black children in their school, which consequently led to their being bullied because of their race. These experiences only intensified their avoidance of communicating with anyone outside of their unique duo, which, according to the New Yorker journalist Hilton Als, “led to their emotional exile, their institutionalization, and…to the misguided appropriation of their story by activists and theorists who used it to pose questions about the nature of identity and the strange birthright that twins are forced to bear.”2
Soon after suffering from the bullying, the twins cut themselves off from others even further. They only spoke to each other in a unique language only they understood, and they began to refuse to do any school work or show any signs of productivity. The family then chose to move to Wales, and when the girls were enrolled in a school near the Haverfordwest community, which was known for intense racism, the bullying grew severe.3 From taunting them to pulling their hair, their schoolmates terrorized the girls constantly. Consequently, the sisters’ behavior grew to be even more odd, from synchronized walking to mirroring one another’s actions, as if they were the same person.4 Thereafter, a school nurse became intrigued with the sisters. School physician John Reed came to vaccinate the students, and upon giving June and Jennifer their shots, he noted that the girls did not even flinch. They just stood there lifeless. The nurse then reported this to the school. The school had been familiar with the strange behavior the girls were constantly exhibiting. Therefore, the sisters were sent to Haverfordwest Withybush Hospital in February 1977 for examination.5 Upon arriving at the hospital, the girls continued to not speak to anyone but to each other. The girls were then transferred to East Gate Special Education Center, which served as a boarding school. While at the center, Jennifer and June continued to isolate themselves. Consequently, they were separated in hopes of having the girls become independent from each other. Jennifer remained at East Gate, while June was sent thirty miles away to St. David’s Adolescent Unit. This had disastrous effects on the girls to the point of them becoming catatonic, where they would not eat or sleep until they were reunited.
When the girls turned sixteen, they were sent back home, where they spent several years refraining from interacting with anyone other than eachother. They used writing as a form of entertainment and found great passion in it. Eventually, the girls would enroll in a writing program as one person, hoping to become famous novelists. Their novels were never recognized, which fairly disappointed the girls. Upon turning eighteen, the sisters finally left their rooms and began a downward spiral from doing drugs to committing crimes and abusing one another. They were arrested after breaking a window and lighting a fire at a community college. Consequently, they were sent to Puckle Church Remand Center, where they stayed for seven months. While there, the girls wrote diaries about how much they hated each other and were scared of each other. In their diaries, they wrote about how lonely they were, but once reunited, they reverted to hating each other once again. They were diagnosed with psychopathic personality disorder, and were sent to Broadmoor Mental Hospital, where they were seen as very disturbed and violent. Eventually, after eleven years at Broadmoor, they were transferred to Caswell Clinic, another mental hospital.
At that time, the journalist Marjorie Wallace had become interested in the girls and began studying them. Jennifer had admitted to Wallace that she had to die in order for June to survive and thrive. The girls mentioned to Wallace that the day of their transfer would be the day Jennifer would have to die.6 They believed that they could not both function properly at the same time, while both of them were still living. This was the underlying cause for their strange behavior. In March 1993, at thirty-one years old, the girls were transferred to Caswell, but upon arrival, Jennifer was unresponsive. Jennifer was rushed to the hospital where she was pronounced dead, with the cause of death being a sudden inflammation of the heart. Jennifer died on the exact day the sisters had predicted, from bizarrely natural causes. June stated that when Jennifer was dying, her last words were “At last we’re out.”7
After Jennifer’s death, June left Caswell a year later and her life completely changed. She began speaking more and improving her social skills. It was as if their belief that only one could thrive was proven to be true. June then requested to be called by her middle name, Alison, to help with the reinvention of her whole identity. It would take June five years to accept Jennifer’s death, refrain from feeling guilty, and fully move on with her life, according to Marjorie Wallace.8
- Marjorie Wallace, The Silent Twins (United Kingdom: Vintage Publishing, 1996), 3-4. ↵
- Hilton Als, “We Two Made One,” New Yorker, December 2000. Accessed January 27,2018. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2000/12/04/we-two-made-one. ↵
- Hilton Als, “We Two Made One,” New Yorker, December 2000. Accessed January 27,2018. ↵
- Polly Teale, Speechless (London: Nick Hern Books, 2011), 14. ↵
- Hilton Als, “We Two Made One,” New Yorker, December 2000. Accessed January 27,2018. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2000/12/04/we-two-made-one ↵
- Marjorie Wallace, The Silent Twins (United Kingdom: Vintage Publishing, 1996), 270. ↵
- April de Angelis, “June Gibbons couldn’t mourn the death of her ‘silent twin’ Jennifer,” Guardian Newspaper, May 29, 1994. Accessed January 27, 2018. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/jun/28/fiction.classicalmusicandopera ↵
- Marjorie Wallace, The Silent Twins (United Kingdom: Vintage Publishing, 1996), 273. ↵
144 comments
Gloria Baca
I have never heard of the Silent Sisters but upon reading this article it completely caught my intentions. You would think that as twins your bond would be unbreakable, yet these two sisters hated each other. On another note, I think it is crazy to think how the two sisters believed that only one could survive and they ultimately predicted one of their deaths. It was a very interesting story to read and I really enjoyed learning about this. Very well-written and good job.
Kayla Lopez
The title of this article really is what caught my attention and made me want to continue reading. From the very first lines of the article I was hooked and wanted to read more and more. I have never heard about these twins before so all of this information was brand new to me. It was crazy to read about how the sisters predicted the death of Jennifer and she died exactly when they said she would. Great article!
Carlos Sandoval
This article gives me chills while at the same time keeping me entertained and wanting to read more. It is so creepy that Jennifer had her death predicted to the exact day, that is where I got the chills. I have met twins before and you can tell they have a different connection, but none of them have ever been like this at least not in person.
Constancia Tijerina
To be fair, I have never heard of the “Silent Sisters” and what they are. Reading this article made me feel like I was walking through a thrill type movie of how abnormal these girls had acted throughout their lives. What I found most intriguing and somewhat freaky is that after one of the sister’s death, the other sister was somehow broken from this spell of silence and created this whole new identity. This article overall is well written and absolutely thrilling. I will most definitely look more into depth of this topic.
Anais Del Rio
I have heard about the sisters briefly before but reading about them to this extent made the story creepier than before. I have heard that a bond between twins is different than a normal sibling bond because they’re more related than usual but these sisters were an entirely different case. They even ended up as the same person at some point and had their own language. While Jennifer did die suddenly from natural causes it may be possible that the built-up stress killed her and the sisters were able to perceive the death day.
Vanessa Tombo
Prior to reading this article, I had already known of the Gibbons twins, Jennifer and June. This article was very educational and well written it clearly showcases the story of two girls who were inseparable and the only way they believed that they could finally separate was if one was to die. The event of Jennifer’s death was weird, to say the least. She died of natural causes. I found this article very interesting and informative for the audience who do not know of the “Silent Twins”.
Regina De La Parra
This is a really different article from the others, which made it really interesting to read. I am still processing the lives that these two twins. I still wonder if Jennifer left any written explanations as to how they predicted her death or why they believed only one could live, but maybe we will never know. Also, I always knew that twins had a unique bond, but I never knew anything like this. Great article Monica!
Auroara-Juhl Nikkels
This article was very eerie. I had never heard of this set of twins before, but I do know that some twins are very close and have a hard time relating to other people. It is also crazy to think about the fact that the twins predicted Jennifer’s death to the exact day. It reminds me of a more twisted version of Harry Potter and Voldemort, where the other can not live while one survives. It was also crazy to think that after her sister died, June was able to live and flourish in a way.
Carlos Vazquez
This article is incredibly interesting to read. I had never heard of twins being so close they refused to speak to anyone else but each other. It is kind of scary that Jennifer died on the exact day June had predicted and that she was able to complete change her life around without her sister. This article was really well written and informative, I really enjoyed reading about the Gibbons twins.
Isaac Rodriguez
I had not heard of the silent sisters prior to reading the article, but I really enjoyed hearing their story. While there were explanations behind their odd behaviour, I find it strange that Jennifer was able to predict her death right before it had happened. And I find it tragic that June never did fulfil her dreams of becoming a writer.