Mildred Gillett
{{Short description|English local historian (1909–2014)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Mildred Gillett
| birth_name = Miriam Mildred Annie Gillett
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1909|4|17|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Wallisdown, Bournemouth
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2014|7|15|1909|4|17|df=yes}}
| death_place = Talbot Woods, Bournemouth
| education = St Mark's School
Talbot Heath School
| alma_mater = London School of Economics
| occupation = Schoolteacher
| known_for = Historian
}}
Miriam Mildred Annie Gillett (17 April 1909 – 15 July 2014) was an English local historian. She wrote books on the local history of Bournemouth.
Biography
Gillett was born to David and Susan Gillett in Wallisdown in 1909. She was the youngest of five children.{{Cite web |date=2014-08-01 |title=Miriam Mildred Annie Gillett |url=https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/features/obituaries/11381633.miriam-mildred-annie-gillett/ |access-date=2025-04-24 |website=Bournemouth Echo |language=en}} She attended St Mark's Primary School and Alma Road School for Girls before moving to Talbot Heath School on a scholarship.
Gillett trained as a teacher at Stockwell Training College in London and did a social science course at the London School of Economics. Her professional career as a teacher started in 1932 at St Paul’s School in Bournemouth, and six years later she became the headmistress of Hampreston Junior School. During the Second World War she volunteered as an air raid warden.{{Cite web |date=2014-04-18 |title='Matriarch' Mildred is 105 |url=https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/11159014.former-headmistress-celebrates-105th-birthday/ |access-date=2025-04-24 |website=Bournemouth Echo |language=en}} In September 1955, she was appointed as headmistress at Colehill Junior School near Wimborne Minster. She retired in 1969.
In retirement she travelled to Australia and Japan, worked for the Citizens Advice Bureau and became a school governor at the former Summerbee Junior School.{{Cite web |date=2009-04-21 |title=Mildred Gillett celebrated her 100th birthday |url=https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/4307303.mildred-gillett-celebrated-her-100th-birthday/ |access-date=2025-04-24 |website=Bournemouth Echo |language=en}} She also had an interest in local history. In 1976, she wrote Wanderings in Talbot Village in 1976, followed by Kinson 1894-1931 which was written with Edna Bevan in 1982. She published Talbot Village - A Unique Village in Dorset in 1993.{{Cite web |title=CHURCH OF ST MARK (INCLUDING TOWER), Non Civil Parish - 1108798 {{!}} Historic England |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1108798?section=official-list-entry |access-date=2025-04-24 |website=historicengland.org.uk |language=en}}
In October 1990, the Borough of Poole named the new Gillett Road in honour of her work on local history.{{Cite web |date=2023-09-09 |title=History - Talbot Village Residents Association |url=https://talbotvillage.org.uk/about/history/ |access-date=2025-04-24 |website=talbotvillage.org.uk |language=en-GB}} The road runs between Talbot House and the Student Village at Bournemouth University.{{Cite web |title=Gillett Road closure: restricted access to Talbot Campus |url=https://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/news/2020-02-27/gillett-road-closure-restricted-access-talbot-campus |access-date=2025-04-24 |website=Bournemouth University |language=en}} In 2017 the road was extended to the Talbot Avenue roundabout.{{Cite web |date=2017-04-28 |title=Work begins to create new fourth arm at roundabout in £3m BU project |url=https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/15252512.work-begins-to-create-new-fourth-arm-at-roundabout-in-3m-bu-project/ |access-date=2025-04-24 |website=Bournemouth Echo |language=en}}
A churchgoer and teetotal, she celebrated her 105th birthday in April 2014.{{Cite web |date=2014-04-18 |title='Matriarch' Mildred is 105 |url=https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/11159014.former-headmistress-celebrates-105th-birthday/ |access-date=2025-04-24 |website=Bournemouth Echo |language=en}} Mildred Gillett died on 15 July 2014 at a nursing home in Talbot Woods.{{Cite web |date=15 July 2014 |title=MILDRED (MIRIAM MILDRED ANNIE) GILLETT |url=https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/memorials/death-notices/death/11356104.mildred-miriam-mildred-annie-gillett/notice/ |website=Bournemouth Daily Echo}}
References
{{Reflist}}
Bibliography
- Gillett, Mildred, Wanderings in Talbot Village, Bournemouth Local Studies Publications (1976) {{isbn|978-0906287293}}
- Bevans, Edna and Gillett, Mildred, Kinson 1894-1931, Bournemouth Local Studies Publications (1982) {{isbn|978-0906287439}}
- Gillett, Mildred, Talbot Village - A Unique Village in Dorset, Bournemouth Local Studies Publications (1993) {{isbn|978-1873887004}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillett, Mildred}}
Category:People from Bournemouth
Category:People educated at Talbot Heath School
Category:20th-century English women writers
Category:20th-century English historians
Category:British women in World War II
Category:Local historians of England
Category:Schoolteachers from Dorset
Category:Alumni of the London School of Economics