Rushden Research Group: Mitchell Closers & Family

Mitchell Closers

& Family

Alfred Mitchell was born 24/10/1904 in Raunds and Edna Dorina Stacey was born in Rushden on 21/11/1906.

They were married at St Mary’s Church Rushden on 20/12/1930, and lived in Rushden with relatives, where their daughter Jean was born 22/07/1931.

Alfred secured a job as a bus conductor and they moved to Stamford. They came back to Rushden around 1940, and lived with relatives in Talbot Road, then in Portland Road.

Another move soon came, to rent a house in Beaconsfield Terrace, where their son Terry was born on 13/10/1943. They later purchased this house in 1966, and remained there.

They lived at number 4 Beaconsfield Terrace, and here they turned the building at the top of the garden into a workshop.

The workshop - factory beyond is Messrs Phipps in East Grove

Alf & Edna in the 1950s

Alf acquired a sewing machine and a post machine from Bignells, about 1948 when the firm made 100 workers redundant. Edna then taught Alf to close a shoe right through.

With these two machines Alf and Edna started closing uppers as outworkers for Bignells of Rushden and Coles Boot Company of Burton Latimer.


The two sewing machines and (right) Edna and Alfred at work

In 1952 they rented a small unit in Bull Yard and then employed others. It was the upstairs of a former stables building at the bottom of the yard, behind the old Stonehurst.

Bull Yard 1970 - the ⁎ building where the closing room was

Mitchell's Closers at Christmas 1952

Back Row: Edna Mitchell, Ada Mitchell, Alf Mitchell, Lily Robinson,
Barbara ?, and the lad is young Terry Mitchell

Front Row: Lynn Faulkner, Louie Childs, Eadith King, Marge Waplington,
Dorothy Bailey, Janet Billingham

Mitchell'€™s Closers at the Windmill Club Rushden 1950’s

Middle row: Cecil Faulkner, Fred King, Dora Surridge, Harold Lewis, Jean Lewis,
Alf Mitchell, Edna Mitchell, Jock ??, Barbara ??, Mr Flaunders

Front row: Eady King, Marg Wapplington, Mrs Faulkner, Janet Billingham,
Dorothy Bailey, Kate Flanders

Back row: unknown people at the back, could be out workers

At the Windmill Club Rushden 1950’s

Alf Mitchell, Edna Mitchell, Dora Surridge, ? Hind,
Eady King, Susan King, Fred King

Around 1957/58 Alf closed the shoe closing business and rented a shop in partnership with a man called Cyril Westley. The shop was called Mitchley's. They mainly sold women and children's shoes. The shop was on the corner of Wellingborough Road and Windmill Road.

Edna went to work at Jaques and Clark's as a machinist in the closing room until 1979 aged 73 years old.

Alf and Cyril closed the shop around 1959/60 due to larger shops opening in the town, and

Alf then worked at Coles Boot Co Ltd in Burton Latimer as a closing room supervisor until he retired in 1970 aged 66.

Alf passed away on 03/08/1983 and Edna passed away on 15/02/1994.

Notes:

Alfred Mitchell, a boot finisher, was born at Twywell. He married Susannah in 1895. They had four children, Annie in 1900, Ernest in 1902, Alfred in 1904 and baby Bertha was two months old when the 1911 census was taken. The family was living at 6 North Street, Raunds. Alfred Mitchell junior was working as a clicker at C E Nicholls in Raunds by 1921.

Edna Stacey was youngest daughter of George Stacey and Kate (nee Cheney) of Wellingborough. George & Kate lived at 17 Park Place, Rushden in 1911 with seven daughters. Their eldest daughter Emily and son George H had both left home by then. By 1921 Edna and her sister Ella were both working as closers at Knight & Lawrence in Manton Road.