Royal Engineers
Pioneer Mitchell has an unusual background story, notwithstanding the relative paucity of information on his military service.
Joseph George Mitchell, who, most likely, was known as ‘George’ was born in Cheltenham in 1856. He was the son of Henry Mitchell (1814-1871), a gardener and his wife Mary (née Edmunds; 1816-1891). He appears to have been the youngest but one of a family of seven children.
His early life was spent in Cheltenham and in 1871 the census records him living with his widowed mother and younger sister. He was then 14 years of age and employed as a labourer. By 1881 he had moved north to Newington, Hull where, aged 24, he was employed as a (railway) labourer, living in lodgings with three other labouring young men.
Ten years on he had moved south to Albion Place, Bristol, still labouring. The census return for 1891 records that he was living with ‘Annie Mitchell’ (a laundress, who was two years older) and six children, all named as ‘Mitchell’. The information provided to the census was incorrect, as it appears that George was not married to Annie and he was not the natural father of three of those children.
Annie had been born Ann or Annie Barnes. According to a report in the Cheltenham Mercury of 21 January 1871 she had married a George Gould in Cheltenham on 5 December 1870. The couple had three children. The eldest, George, was baptised in Cheltenham in 1880 and the baptismal record notes that his birth occurred in September 1873. The second child, Frederick, did not follow until 1880, with a daughter, Emma, arriving in 1883. All three were born in Cheltenham
It appears that there was a gap of five years before Annie gave birth to her fourth child, in 1888 in Cheltenham. Intriguingly the name given to the child was James Mitchell Gould. Does this indicate that in the intervening five years Annie had become estranged from her husband and entered into a relationship with Joseph George Mitchell?
As stated above, the 1891 Census return does show Annie living with George Mitchell in Bristol and by this time the couple had had two daughters, Sarah and Alice, born in 1880/1 and Alice’s baptismal record (16 August 1891) shows George and Annie Mitchell as her parents.
In fact, Joseph George Mitchell, labourer, aged 38, did not marry Annie Gould, widow, aged 40, until 5 May 1894, at St Philip & St Jacob’s Church, Bristol. The marriage register states Annie’s father to be ‘Samuel Barnes’. Her widowhood may have occurred from 15 October 1891, when the Cheltenham Chronicle of 24 October recorded the death of a George Gould, aged 37.
It has not proved possible to trace Joseph George Mitchell in the 1901 Census. However, Annie Mitchell does appear to feature, living in the Parish of St Mary, Cheltenham, with son James. Possibly her husband had gone away to find work? It has not been possible to trace either George or Annie in the 1911 Census.
When war broke out in August 1914 George Mitchell would have been 54 years of age. The upper age for recruitment into the Army at that time was 41. As the war progressed and the need for men grew and recruitment on a voluntary basis was replaced by conscription in March 1916. The upper age limit for service was raised to 50 in April of that year. However, it would appear from examining those Army Service Records that survived destruction by enemy action in 1940, that men born in the years 1856-1860 were certainly being enlisted into specialist units of the Royal Engineers, for the duration of the war.
Unfortunately, George Mitchell’s record is not one of those which has survived. He does have a Medal Rolls Index Card (MIC) in his name (and features in the Medal Roll itself) and this is a good indicator that George saw service abroad. The CWGC register states that he served with the ‘R T Depot’. His MIC is endorsed with the abbreviation ‘SWB’ which denotes the fact that he was awarded a Silver War Badge, issued to men who had served in the armed forces and had received a discharge. The National Archives holds the registers for such badges and George’s entry shows that he enlisted on 29 May 1916 and served with the Railway Transport Depot of the Royal Engineers until discharged on 27 December 1916, as ‘no longer physically fit for military service’. He is also shown as having served overseas. He would have been involved with the construction and maintenance of railways (standard and narrow gauge) used for conveying men and supplies to the Front and was no doubt utilised in this way as he had experience in working as a civilian labourer prior to the war. In the absence of a service record little else is known of his military service and whether his discharge was due to any particular ailment or injury. Nothing is known as to his personal life and employment following discharge.
Sapper Joseph George Mitchell died, on 22 August 1920, aged 65, in Cheltenham. According to a recently released Pension Record Card death was related to ‘epithelioma of the tongue’ (which was a cancerous condition). He was buried in Cheltenham Cemetery on 28 August 1920, where a CWGC headstone now marks his grave. His wife applied for a pension in relation to his Army service but this was not granted, as his illness had occurred after discharge. She was, however, granted a £5 gratuity. The fact that he has an entry in the CWGC Register indicates that there must be some link between his Army service and medical condition and reason for discharge.
Annie Mitchell died in Cheltenham in 1930. When the CWGC Register was compiled she was living at 1 Rutland Street, Cheltenham.
Researched by Graham Adams 5 July 2020