Mildred Gillett
English local historian (1909–2014)
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Miriam Mildred Annie Gillett (17 April 1909 – 15 July 2014) was an English local historian. She wrote books on the local history of Bournemouth.
17 April 1909
Talbot Heath School
Mildred Gillett | |
|---|---|
| Born | Miriam Mildred Annie Gillett 17 April 1909 Wallisdown, Bournemouth |
| Died | 15 July 2014 (aged 105) Talbot Woods, Bournemouth |
| Education | St Mark's School Talbot Heath School |
| Alma mater | London School of Economics |
| Occupation | Schoolteacher |
| Known for | Historian |
Biography
Gillett was born to David and Susan Gillett in Wallisdown in 1909. She was the youngest of five children.[1] She attended St Mark's Primary School and Alma Road School for Girls before moving to Talbot Heath School on a scholarship.[1]
Gillett trained as a teacher at Stockwell Training College in London and did a social science course at the London School of Economics.[1] 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.[1] During the Second World War she volunteered as an air raid warden.[2] In September 1955, she was appointed as headmistress at Colehill Junior School near Wimborne Minster. She retired in 1969.[1]
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.[3] She also had an interest in local history.[1] In 1976, she wrote Wanderings in Talbot Village in 1976, followed by Kinson 1894-1931 which was written with Edna Bevan in 1982.[1] She published Talbot Village - A Unique Village in Dorset in 1993.[4]
In October 1990, the Borough of Poole named the new Gillett Road in honour of her work on local history.[5] The road runs between Talbot House and the Student Village at Bournemouth University.[6] In 2017 the road was extended to the Talbot Avenue roundabout.[7]
A churchgoer and teetotal, she celebrated her 105th birthday in April 2014.[2] Mildred Gillett died on 15 July 2014 at a nursing home in Talbot Woods.[8]