MITCHENALL FAMILY HISTORY

Harolds life is one of decision and intrique. The youngest of four brothers, he seems to have had no interest in the family business, and nothing was left to him when brothers and parents deceased - it all went to his elder brother  Edward, who ran the Grocers.

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Harold worked for Nestles. He clearly spent time in Switzerland, although when he moved there I cant define exactly. When in the US census of 1940, He is declared a resident of Switzerland.  It is also clear that his residency pattern is similar to that of his later wife, whom he married and was second husband to. She was Dorothy Margarette Lowes (ne. Elliott).

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Dorothy was born in London in 1897, and she and her husband Thomas Lowes also worked for Nestles. Thomas lived in Walthamstow in 1911 (census). She married Thomas in Vaud, Switzerland, in 1921, and had a daughter Margarette in 1927.

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The 1939 Census of 29th September 1939 records Harold and Dorothy both in Great Cumberland Street and Marble Arch in London, both working for the Nestles Condensed Milk Company, he as a Chief Clerk and she a secretary in the Executive Dept. He is recorded as Single, She is recorded as a widow, as apparently Mr Lowes had died?

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Harold and Margaret both crossed the Atlantic a number of times. In 1939 he was on the SS Samaria, sailing to New York from Liverpool on October 7th - after WWII had started. He was in the company of Dorothy Lowes and her daughter Margarette.

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Dorothy and her daughter Margarette lived in Stamford Connecticut in 1940 (census). The 1942 the city directory records her as a private secretary widow of Thomas Lowes, as do the 1946 and 1947 directories - they all include the word "wid" mean widowed? And Harold Mitchenall also lived in Stamford - in the same district off Atlantic.

 

Harold stayed in the USA from 1939 to 1946 as far as one can tell.  His father, brother Walter and mother all died during his absence, but he seems to have avoided the draft. He arrived back in Southampton on 18th June 1946 aboard the SS John Ericsson. He was on his way to Switzerland. Dorothy was on the ship to - but apparently staying in London.

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Harold later married Dorothy Lowes in Westminster, UK. in December 1948. In August 1949 they crossed the Atlantic together as Dorothy and Harold Mitchenall, travelling from New York to Le Havre on the SS America.

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When Harold died, however, in Switzerland, his widow, who survived him by many years, failed to inherit. I had some contact with one of her descendants in the states, who did not speak well of him.

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