She was born on 4 January 1899 as Mabel Muir, the eldest of the six children of Hugh Muir (1870-1940) and Anne Elizabeth Muir née Woods (1876-1942). Her birth was registered in the 1st quarter of 1899 in the Lambeth registration district.
In the 1901 census she is shown as living at the Fire Brigade Engine Station, 5 Uxbridge Road, Shepherds Bush, with her parents and her brother, Amand Muir (1901-1958). Her father was described as a fireman. On 4 January 1905 she and her brother were baptised at St Giles, Cripplegate, where the baptismal register shows the family residing at 14 Fire Station, Red Cross Street, London and her father was recorded as a fireman.
In the 1911 census she is described as being at school and was living at 130 Union Road, Southwark, the home of her grandfather William Henry Woods (1855-1919) who was a grocer and a sub-postmaster. Also living at this address was her grandmother Annie Woods née Wilkinson (1855-1936), two uncles and an aunt: Thomas Charles Woods (1887-1916) who was a warehouseman, Anna Maria Woods (1889-1940) who was shown as printer's assistant clerk and Frederick Woods (b.1895) who was described a G.P.O. telegraph messenger, together with her grand-aunt, Eliza Cowland née Woods (1857-1915). Her parents and four siblings: Amand, Hector Splatt Muir (1904-1993), Annie Catherine Muir (1906-1968) and William Henry Muir (1909-1968), were recorded at the Fire Station, Pickering Place, Bayswater..
On 1 July 1923 she married George Darvell (1899-1962) at St Peter's Church, Southwark. The marriage register shows her as a spinster and a clerk residing at 130 Union Street, Southwark, whilst her husband was described as a bachelor and sheet metal worker living at 37 Union Street, Southwark. Their daughter, Audrey Kathleen Darvell, was born in 1924.
Electoral registers from 1929 show her and her husband registered at 132A Union Street, London, SE1 and this address was confirmed in the 1939 England and Wales Register, although their daughter did not appear on this register. Her occupation was described as an assistant sub-postmistress whilst her husband was shown as a heating and ventilator sheet metal worker.
She was injured on 10 September 1940 as a result of enemy action when a German bomb fell on the Ewer Street air raid shelter and was taken to Guy's Hospital, St Thomas Street, London, SE1, where she died, aged 41 years, on 18 September 1940. Amongst the others killed were her daughter and her aunt Anna Maria Woods (1889-1940). She was buried in the City of London Cemetery and Crematorium, Aldersbrook Road, London, E12 5DQ.
Probate records confirm that her address was 132 Union Street, Southwark, and that she died at Guy's Hospital. Probate was granted on 7 May 1941 to her husband and her effects totalled £113-16s-9d.
Her name is recorded in The Civilian War Dead Roll of Honour 1939-1945 that is kept just outside the entrance to St George's Chapel at the west end of Westminster Abbey. In this she is shown as living at 130A Union Street Flats, Union Street, Southwark, as does the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's website. Both incorrectly record her age as 42 years.
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.
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