MITCHENALL FAMILY HISTORY

William Jonathan was the eldest son of William and Ann (Potter), born in 1865 in Edenbridge. According tp the census. he was with his parents in 1871, but in 1881 is living with his Aunt Ann Austin in Norwood. Confusingly, his cousin William James Mitchenall, son of James and Catherine (Harris), and their cousin Louisa Jeffrey are also in the household. Next door is his Aunt Rebecca Kempshaw. Ann's sister.

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Whether William Jonathan ever returned home after this I don't know. What I do know (from family recollection) is that he met his wife in Brighton, and the 1891 survey shows Edith Mary Sterry working as a Drapers Assistant in Brighton, the business area William became succesful in.. I haven't found William Jonathan until their marriage, in Tendring, Essex on 7th September 1896. This shows that William was living at 25 Mardol Shrewsbury (the business he and Edith started) and Edith lives in Clacton-on-Sea (no address). The witnesses are Edith's brother Arthur Mitchenall and William's sister Lillian Mitchenall. Lillian was by this date 21. William and Lillian's sister Edith Mitchenall was already living in Clacton, and Lillian may have been living with her sister. The marriage location may also tie to Edith Mitchenall (rather than Edith Sterry), as I have no record of William or his future wife being resident in Tendring (Clacton)

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After his marriage William Jonathan's life centred on Shrewsbury, although I have a post card addressed to him in West London in 1903 (from his neice Elsie).

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His son Arthur Sterry Mitchenall was born in 1898, in Shrewsbury, and William James in November 1904, shortly before his father William died in Edenbridge.

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William and Edith became august citizens of Shrewsbury; his shop, in the centre of Mardol, and obituary are show he was of some status. Note that his sister Edith, from Clacton, attended the funeral.