Before Reginald 

 

It is well documented that Reginald Mitchell's parents were  

 Herbert and Eliza Jane Mitchell (nee Brain), who were married in 1893     

 at the  Holy Evangelist Church, Normacot. Stoke on Trent.

 

Herbert  was born in 1864 at Holmfirth, Yorkshire., to parents Joseph   

 and  Ann. He was one of three children, along with brother Arthur and

 his sister Mary.

Following his fathers death, the now 26 year old schoolmaster  

 Herbert, together with his widowed  mother and brother Arthur, can be  

 seen on the 1891 census living at Congleton Rd., Butt Lane.

 It's unclear from the census return, the exact house number, but it's 

 highly probable to be number 115, Reginald Mitchell's birthplace. 

 

 

Eliza Jane Brain was born in 1865 at Normacot near Longton, and was

 one of several children born to William and Sarah Brain.

 In 1871, the six year old Eliza was living at 109, High Street, Normacot   

 with her family, headed by father William, a cooper by trade. 

 How did Herbert and Eliza meet and finally marry? 

Solomon Bentley - 'go between' - the boy who changed history

In the early 1950's, Solomon Bentley was a pub landlord, like his father before him. After exchanging pleasantries with a stranger in his pub, which included discussing the recent war and it's ending, 

Solomon uttered the following words, 'Of course if it hadn't been for me, we could have lost the war.' 

Solomon went on to explain to the intrigued  stranger, 

'When I was a young boy, I went to the village school on Congleton Rd. at the bottom of Millbank.

The schoolmaster was a Mr. Mitchell, a bachelor. He was very interested in a young lady of the village and would write letters in pursuit of her hand. These letters were entrusted to me to deliver as soon as school was over. I did deliver those letters and in consequence, Mr. Mitchell married his young lady.

Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell lived right opposite the Millstone Inn and it was there that Reginald Mitchell was born in 1895. If  I hadn't delivered those letters, Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell would not have married and there would not have been an R.J. Mitchell, there would not have been the Spitfire aircraft, and without the Spitfire we would probably have lost the Battle of  Britain and subsequently the war.'

 

I have to thank Peter Lunt of Wolverhampton, Solomon's grandson, who related this story in a letter to Philip R Leese, our local historian, who in turn allowed us to tell it to all.

 

Would Herbert and Eliza have communicated and eventually  married without Solomon's assistance?

Probably , for Herbert's schoolmaster resolve would surely have found other means to be instrumental 

in his courtship attempts, with the outcome of marriage to Eliza.

Does Solomon's story stand up to question? I think the answer must be yes, for in 1891, six year old Solomon lived with his five brothers and sisters, mother Rosanna and his publican father Solomon, in Congleton Rd. Butt Lane. Although the public house is not named on the census return, an 1891 map of the Butt Lane area reveals just one pub in Congleton Rd., The Millstone Inn, which is coincidently directly opposite the Mitchell home at number 115. 

Solomon would have been the right age to attend Butt Lane boys school at the time that Herbert was schoolmaster there, and furthermore the closeness of his home to Herbert's, would  provide an additional   opportunity to offer his 'go between' services, possibly making him the best choice.  

One aspect which I have yet to investigate in Solomon's account, is the description of Eliza as 'a girl from the village', for in 1891, the then 25 year old Eliza was living with  her widowed father and other family members at 271, Normacot Rd., Normacot. She is shown as not having an occupation but is the eldest  of the girls still living at home, a considerable distance and an arduous journey to Butt Lane in those times. Perhaps the N.S.Railway provided the link

It still remains however that only two years elapsed 

between Eliza living at home with her family in 

Normacot and her marriage to Herbert in 1893.

 

How could the six year old Eliza in 1871, ever

 imagine that she would eventually marry a 

schoolmaster, and that her second born male 

child would become one of Britain's greatest  

legends, and that she would survive him by 

some eight years!