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Valerie Stafford

Valerie Violet Stafford was born in 1892 and baptised on 31 August 1892 at the Parish Church of Immanuel and St Andrew, Streatham. Her parents were Edward Tytler Stafford Howard Stafford and Teresa Enrigueta Carmen Stafford nee Kruls. Edward and Teresa had married in Teresa's native city of Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1888.

The marriage between Edward and Teresa doesn't seem to have survived for long once living back in the UK. On the 1901 census, Valerie is shown as a boarder, alongside her sister and father, in the household of Mary A Hildebrand at 4 Beckenham Road, Kent. At this point, Valerie is 8 years old.

The next time we meet Valerie is on the passenger manifest for the luxury ocean liner RMS Adriatic. The RMS Adriatic was the fastest of the The Big Four - four ocean liners built by Harland and Woolf for White Star Line, designed with luxury in mind. The RMS Adriatic was the last of these four to be built, and was the first ocean liner to have an indoor swimming pool and a Turkish bath. Her maiden voyage was on 8th May 1907, and Valerie, accompanied by her mother and sister were on board shortly after this, departing Southampton on 31 July 1907 to arrive in New York on 9 August 1907 before travelling on to Jamaica.

It is possible that it was whilst out in Jamaica that Valerie met her future husband, Captain William Peverell Marley of the West India Regiment. At present, no record of Valerie's return voyage has been found, and it is not until her marriage on 23rd June 1909 at St Mary Abbots, Kensington that we see her again.

William and Valerie set up home at 11 Marine Parade, Dover with their only son, William Roger Stafford Marley, born 12 May 1910. In these years just prior to WW1, William and Valerie seemed to have been part of many clubs and societies, including the Cinque Ports Yacht Club and the Dover Aero Club. Valerie was awarded the sobriquet "the first Dover lady to fly at Dover" by the Dover Express (17 January 1913) when she was taken on a 10 minute flight.

In October 1914, Captain Marley rejoined the army. It is not certain what happened to Valerie in the intervening years until 1924 when she filed for divorce. This being granted, Valerie married John M Mitcheson in France. John Mitcheson had been a Royal Marine in WW1 and afterwards was recruited to the Foreign Office, taking up consulate positions in Ghent, Bahia, Poland, Sweden, and San Francisco. He was also a member of the SOE during WW2. He was awarded OBE (1939) and CMG (1942). It appears that Valerie accompanied her husband on his postings.

Valerie died in 1971 in Sussex, her husband having predeceased her in 1966. She was survived by her only child.