Introduction
William Edward Mitchell’s life took him far beyond the boundaries of his Dorset childhood. As a young man, he migrated to the ironstone mining district of North Yorkshire, where he married and started a family. However, by the early 1920s, he had returned to the West Country and settled at Hardington Moor, where he spent the remainder of his known life. His parents named him Wilfred Edward, but he began using William Edward after moving to Yorkshire.
Early life
Wilfred Edward Mitchell was born on 7 December 1885 at Pulham in Dorset, to George and Alice Flora Mitchell. His father was a farm labourer from Glanvilles Wootton, while his mother came from Holwell.
When Wilfred was eleven years old, his mother died at the age of 38. The 1901 census recorded him living in a four-room house at West Pulham with his widowed father and three siblings. At that time, George Mitchell was working as a carpenter, while Wilfred was employed as a groom.
Migration to Yorkshire
At some point during the next decade, Wilfred left Dorset and travelled to Staithes on the North Yorkshire coast. This long-distance migration was unusual for a rural labourer and represented a significant change in his environment. The district’s economy was centred on ironstone mining, and Wilfred found employment as a groom or horse-keeper connected with the mines. He also began using the name William.
On 18 March 1908, William married Harriet Jackson Adamson at St Hilda’s Church, Hinderwell. Harriet was the daughter of William Adamson, a deputy overman in the ironstone mines. Their daughter, Kathleen, was born on 30 July 1908.
By 1911, William and Harriet were living at 23 Cowbar, a small settlement adjoining Staithes. The census recorded William as a horse-keeper employed at the ironstone mines.
Return to Dorset
At some point in the following decade, William and Harriet separated, although the reasons are unknown. Harriet moved to the Doncaster area, where she remarried in 1923 and had a son the following year. Whether her marriage to William ended through divorce has not been established.
William returned to the West Country and found employment as a plasterer working for Frank Dungey of Milborne Port. During this time, he began a relationship with Emily Collins, née Sansom. Emily’s husband, Frank Thomas Collins, had been killed in military service in April 1918.
Life at Hardington
Emily’s sister, Ellen Sansom, lived at Hardington Moor with her husband, Archibald Abraham Partridge. William and Emily settled at Hardington Moor, where they lived together without marrying. Their son, Kenneth, was born there on 17 February 1921.
William and Emily remained at Hardington Moor for many years. Emily died at Yeovil District Hospital on 21 November 1934 at the age of 52. The cause of death was recorded as peritonitis resulting from gangrenous appendicitis, with myocarditis as a contributory condition. No post-mortem examination was carried out.[1]
Significantly, her death certificate described her as the widow of Frank Collins, assistant baker, rather than as the partner of William Mitchell. Her sister Emily Sansom was present at her death and registered it. Emily was buried at Sherborne under the surname Collins.
The 1939 Register recorded William living alone at Hardington Moor. Kenneth was living nearby with Archibald and Ellen Partridge and working as a lorry driver, while William described himself as a groom. It is unclear whether this was his principal occupation or simply the one with which he most closely identified.
Kenneth married Joyce Vera Spearing in 1942, and they later had two daughters. He died in 1999. The date of William’s death has not been traced.
Conclusion
William Mitchell’s life illustrates the long-distance mobility that was possible, though far from common, among working people in the early twentieth century. Born into a rural family in Dorset, he spent part of his adult life in the industrial communities of North Yorkshire before ultimately returning to the West Country. The surviving records also reveal a more complex domestic life than official statistics often suggest, including a failed marriage, a second long-term partnership, and the creation of a new family at Hardington Moor.
References
[1] Death certificate of Emily Collins.
