Mildred Scobell
Harriet Mildred Vaughan Willes-Johnson was the second daughter of Captain John Samuel Willes-Johnson and his third wife Margaret Ann Pugh. Therefore, she was aunt to Violet Lovett, and to Muriel, Margaret and Millesaintes Long. Mildred’s father died when she was very young, and so Margaret took her three young daughters to live with her sister at Cole Park, Malmesbury.
Mildred was presented at court in May 1879 by Lady Calvert. To be presented at court was an essential ritual for young women who wanted to taken part in the London Season. Lady Calvert was deemed to be a suitable sponsor, being the daughter of Edward Herbert, 2nd Earl of Powis, and the wife of Frederick Calvert QC, himself the son of a baronet.
Less that a year after her presentation at court, Mildred married Henry Jenner Scobell, Esq, of the Abbey, Pershore, at St James’ Church, Picadilly. Henry was serving with the Royal Scots Greys, a calvary regiment of the British Army. He would remain serving with the Royal Scots Greys, deploying to South Africa in 1899 to fight in the Boer War. For his service, he was given the brevet rank of Colonel, which was confirmed when he was back in the UK after the war. He became the last officer in command of Cape Colony, a position that he held until 1911. He died in South Africa in 1912.
Whilst Henry was serving in the army, Mildred was forging a life for herself in Wiltshire. She is mentioned in the Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser (17 Aug 1901) as entertaining “a number of young Londoners who are holidaying at Beanacre”. [Beanacre is a small village near Melkshaw, Wiltshire]. However, her obituary in the Somerset Guardian and Radstock Observer (19 Aug 1938) gives a tantalising hint that she may not have been sat at home waiting for her husband to come back – instead it is indicated that “during the Boer War, she was engaged in nursing in South Africa”. At the moment, I haven’t been able to find any records of this service, but watch this space!