Person:Mildred Haines (1)

Childhood

Mildred Mary Agnes Haines was born on 18th January 1895 at Broadway in Worcestershire, daughter of a gloveress named Ann Haines, formerly Keyte, and her husband Dennis William Haines. Dennis was working as a farm labourer at the time of Mildred's birth, but would later become a painter and decorator. There was quite an age gap between Mildred's parents: her father was 23 when she was born whilst her mother was 40. Mildred had two much older half brothers on her mother's side, from before her mother married Dennis Haines. At the time of Mildred's birth all four of her grandparents were still alive and living in Broadway, although her maternal grandfather, Richard Keyte, died before Mildred turned one. Three years after Mildred's birth her parents had another child, being a son named Frank.

The 1901 census finds Mildred living with her parents, younger brother and older half-brothers at North Street in Broadway - the main road through the village, now known as High Street.

In 1910, when Mildred was fifteen years old, her mother Ann died, aged 56. The census the following year finds Ann and her brother Frank living with their father Dennis, still on North Street in Broadway, living in a four roomed house.^[7]

Mildred's father remarried in 1912 to a lady named Alice Price, with whom he appears to have had another five children through to the mid 1920s. Mildred's paternal grandmother, Amelia Ann Haines, died in 1912. Her maternal grandmother, Mary Dingley Keyte, died in 1915.

Adulthood

During the Great War, Mildred found herself living in Coventry, about 30 miles north of Broadway. The large and very urban Coventry must have been quite a contrast to the very rural area around Broadway she had grown up in. Mildred was married at Coventry on 24th November 1917, aged 22, to a 30 year old widower named George William Mitchell, whose first wife had died two years earlier. He already had an eight year old son from his first marriage. Mildred and George went on to have another four sons together between 1918 and 1924.

Mildred about the time of her marriage

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Mildred was living with George and their children at 55 Seagrave Road in Coventry. She was working as an office cleaner. During the war, industrial Coventry's cycle and motor works were put to producing armaments, and so George became an aero fitter. Meanwhile, Mildred's health was deteriorating. She spent some time in hospital, when her children had to be looked after by friends and family.

Coventry had experienced a number of bombing raids in the first few months of the war, but the damage had been relatively modest. However, on the night of 14th November 1940, the Nazi forces sent 500 bombers to attack Coventry with incendiary bombs. These destroyed large swathes of the city, including the fourteenth century cathedral, which was left with only the outer walls and tower standing. Mildred's stepson's house was also destroyed that night.

On the night of the Coventry blitz, Mildred had been ill in hospital in the city. As a consequence of the bombing she was moved to a hospital in the nearby town of Stratford-on-Avon, but she died there just three days later, on 18th November 1940. She was 45 years old. She left George a widower for the second time. Mildred's four sons were aged between 22 and 15 when she died. George outlived Mildred by over 26 years.

1. ↑ Birth certificate, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   REGISTRATION DISTRICT Evesham
   1895 BIRTH in the Sub-district of Broadway in the Counties of Worcester and Gloucester
   No.	When and where born	Name, if any	Sex	Name and surname of father	Name, surname and maiden name of mother	Occupation of father	Signature, description and residence of informant	When registered	Signature of registrar
   429	Eighteenth January 1895 Broadway Wor[cester]shire R.S.D.	Mildred Mary Agnes	Girl	Dennis William Haines	Ann Haines formerly Keyte	Farm Labourer	D.W. Haines Father Broadway	Ninth February 1895	Robert Kensall Smith Registrar

   
2. ↑ Roman Catholic Church. St Saviour's Catholic Church Registers. (Worcester: Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service).

   Mildred Mary Agnes Haines
   Die 18 Januarii 1895 nata et die 1 Martii 1895 baptizata est Mildred Maria Agnis filia Dionisii et Annie Haines (olim Kyte) conjugum: a me Fabiano Maddeus C.P.
   Patrimus fuit _ Matrina fuit Elizabeth Crump
   Mildred Mary Agnes, daughter of Dennis Haines and his wife Ann Haines (formerly Keyte) was born 18 January 1895 and baptised 1 March 1895 by me Fabian Maddeas C.P.
   Godfather: -, Godmother: Elizabeth Crump

3. ↑ England. England. 1901 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG13; Piece 2790; Folio 115; Page 12, 31 Mar 1901.

   Address: North Street, Broadway, Worcestershire
   Five or more rooms occupied
   Dennis Haines, head, married, male, 25 [1875/6], Painter - house, worker, b. Buckland, Gloucestershire
   Ann Haines, wife, married, female, 30 [1870/1], b. Broadway, Worcestershire
   Mildred Haines, daughter, single, female, 6 [1894/5], b. Broadway, Worcestershire
   Frank Haines, son, single, male, 2 [1898/9], b. Broadway, Worcestershire
   George Keyte, stepson, single, male, 23 [1877/8], Postal messenger, worker, b. Broadway, Worcestershire
   Wilson Keyte, stepson, single, male, 15 [1885/6], Grocers Assistant, worker, b. Broadway, Worcestershire

4. ↑ England. 1911 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom: The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), (formerly the UK General Register Office.))
   Class RG14; Piece 17705; Schedule 105, 2 Apr 1911.

   Address: North Street, Broadway, Worcestershire
   Four rooms occupied
   Dennis Haines, head, male, 37 [1873/4], widower, Journeyman painter, worker, b. not known
   Mildred Haines, daughter, female, 16 [1894/5], single, b. Broadway, Worcestershire
   Frank Haines, son, male, 13 [1897/8], b. Broadway, Worcestershire

5. ↑ Coventry County Borough, in General Register Office. 1939 Register
   29 Sep 1939.

   Address: 55 Seagrave Road
   Mitchell, George W. / male / 27 Dec 1886 / married / Aero detail fitter (Heavy worker)
   Mitchell, Mildred M.A. / female / 18 Jan 1895 / married / Office cleaner
   Mitchell, George D. / male / 19 Apr 1918 / single / Apprentice bricklayer (Heavy worker)
   Mitchell, Raymond F. / male / 15 Mar 1920 / single / Apprentice plumber (Heaver worker)
   Mitchell, William / male / 29 Jun 1922 / single / Tool room machinist
   Mitchell, Albert E. / male / 31 Dec 1924 / single / Turner lathe operator (apprentice)

6. ↑ Death certificate, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   Registration District Stratford upon Avon
   1940 DEATH in the Sub-District of Stratford-on-Avon in the County of Warwick
   No.	When and where died	Name and surname	Sex	Age	Occupation	Cause of death	Signature, description and residence of informant	When registered	Signature of registrar
   232	Eighteenth November 1940 The Emergency Hospital, Old Stratford Within U.D.	Mildred Mary Agnes Mitchell	Female	45 years	of 55 Seagrave Road, Coventry wife of George William Mitchell a aero fitter	1a. Cerebral Embolism b. Mitral Stenosis Certified by A.P. Green M.R.C.S.	G.W. Mitchell, widower of deceased, 55 Seagrave Road, Coventry	Twentieth November 1940	Albert Edward Amos, Registrar

   
7. ↑ Although the house does not have a name or number in the census, it is possible from the sequence of properties in the census to be reasonably confident that they lived at 71 High Street - or more accurately the eastern third of 71 High Street. This house was built as part of 71 High Street in the eighteenth century, but split off to become a small separate cottage before the Haines lived there. It was subsequently absorbed into neighbouring 73 High Street in the late twentieth century. Restoration of 73 High Street in 2004/5 removed the former cottage's front door.